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Category: Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma
Education & Homeschooling
Vanessa Ewing, Gail Stine, and Stacey Pendleton.

Supporting the Well-Being of Gifted Learners

Gifted learners need emotional health and supportive environments to thrive. Adults should provide choice, mentorship, social connection, and strategies for anxiety and perfectionism. Schools can use clubs, communication, collaboration, low-stakes projects, and daily reflection to build resilience and support gifted students’ well-being.

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Vanessa Ewing, Gail Stine, and Stacey Pendleton. June 15, 2021
Miscellaneous
Neve Spicer

Meditation: A Valuable Coping Tool For 2E Children

Meditation can help twice-exceptional (2E) children manage stress, anxiety and emotional regulation. Research links meditation to improved self-esteem, reduced school-related stress, better coping skills, and symptom improvements in ADHD. World Meditation Day highlights these benefits and promotes meditation education for children and adults.

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Neve Spicer June 15, 2021
Communication
Lin Lim, Ph.D.

Open Our Hearts to Inspiration

During a visit to Laguna Beach tide pools, a parent describes discovering a lone fish then a school of fish, which inspired her son to write a spontaneous short story. The post encourages parents to expose children to new experiences, as inspiration can arise unexpectedly and foster creativity.

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Lin Lim, Ph.D. May 7, 2021
Over-excitabilities
Matthew J. Zakreski, PsyD.

Helping Them Climb: Gifted Kids in Therapy

Gifted children often experience intense, frequent, and long-lasting emotions that adults misunderstand. Therapists, teachers, and parents should listen, validate, and join their feelings rather than dismiss them. In the author’s case, supporting a grieving, angry teen led to productive action—an environmental club—and improved functioning.

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Matthew J. Zakreski, PsyD. April 13, 2021
Misdiagnosis
Steven Pfeiffer

Helping Them Climb: Optimizing Favorable Outcomes When Counseling the gifted

This article integrates child psychotherapy research and four evidence-based counseling principles for gifted students: use empirically supported interventions, emphasize the therapeutic alliance and clinical expertise, involve families, and progress-monitor outcomes. It advocates a strength-based focus and illustrates practice with a dialectical behavior therapy clinical case.

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Steven Pfeiffer February 11, 2021
Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma
Patrick Bailey

Are Gifted Teens at Greater Risk of Taking Drugs?

This article examines substance use among gifted teens, noting high rates of alcohol and marijuana use, risk factors such as peer influence, isolation, mental health and trauma, common behavioral and physical warning signs, and recommends monitoring, early intervention, social support and tailored rehabilitation to prevent and treat addiction.

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Patrick Bailey April 12, 2019
Miscellaneous
Nicole A. Tetreault, PhD

Neuroscience of Anxiety in the Bright Brain

Bright children may be more prone to anxiety due to intensified imagination, heightened emotional and sensory processing, and altered brain circuitry. Unrecognized anxiety can lead to physiological and behavioral symptoms, misdiagnosis, and chronic stress. Holistic interventions, CBT, mindfulness, exercise, sleep, and supportive parenting help reduce anxiety and build resilience.

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Nicole A. Tetreault, PhD February 27, 2019
Communication
Nicole A. Tetreault, PhD

Our brains on smartphones, (un)social media, and our mental health

This post reviews research linking heavy smartphone and social media use to attentional disruption, reduced cognitive capacity, impaired learning, and increased anxiety, depression and envy. It explains the ‘brain drain’ effect and offers practical guidelines—like reducing screen time and phone-free periods—to improve attention and well-being.

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Nicole A. Tetreault, PhD March 7, 2018
Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma
Kella Hanna-Wayne

Voices: Gifted and Disabled

A personal account of living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and giftedness, describing constant pain, symptom tracking, treatment self-management, cognitive effects of chronic pain, anxiety about future injuries, challenges with dismissive doctors, and encouragement for empathy and advocacy for people with disabilities.

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Kella Hanna-Wayne November 25, 2017