About the HSP Newsletter

In 1996, shortly after The Highly Sensitive Person was published, we began a newsletter called Comfort Zone. It has become the center of a special "HSP" community, so we were glad to make it a free online newsletter in 2004 (with profits from the HSP Store covering most of the expenses). The online form is very low-key in order to make it as little work as possible for me -- no PDF page format, only light editing, and no articles from others, to eliminate more editing. But you will find a variety of subjects and styles, from deep-theoretical to chatty-practical.

All of the back issues of this emailed version are available below. We post a new issue about every three months -- February, May, August, and November, usually around the 15th, so they will continue to build up as a useful archive. If you have any problems with these pages, please contact our webmaster. You will be notified of each new issue if you follow the subscribe link at the bottom of any page.

Back issues of the paper Comfort Zone issues, deeply discounted from the subscription price, are available for purchase through our online store while supplies last.

Interested in something in particular? Use the Google search tool at the top of this page, and choose "HSPerson.com."

Comfort Zone ONLINE

February 2012 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Coping Corner: HSPs and Pain
HSPs and Parenting: Dear Highly Sensitive Parents (and Grandparents): A Request for Help
Our Spiritual Life: Martin Buber's Great Gift to Us

November 2011 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Film: Two Movies: Two Ways that our Culture Imagines Sensitive Men and Their Relationship with Women
Our Spiritual Life: Part IV: Perhaps You Would Like to Meet Your Ally?
Travel: Easy Traveling for the Highly Sensitive Person

August 2011 Articles

A Letter from Elaine
Reading : About that Psychology Today Article/Why We Are Sometimes SO Emotional
Research: Recent Genetic Findings
Our Spiritual Life : The Priestly Part of Our Being "Priestly Advisors." Part III: The Lens of Personal Experience

May 2011 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
HSP Travel : "Going through (In)Security
Our Spiritual Life: The Priestly Part of our Being "Priestly Advisors." Part II: Individuation
Let the HSP Beware : What about All those Websites?

February 2011 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Our Spiritual Life: The Priestly Part of our Being "Priestly Advisors" Part I.
With Depth: Learning about HSPs' Complexes from Joseph the Dreamer.
Books: What I'm Reading.

November 2010 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Coping Corner: HSPs and Divorce
Research Report: Head for your Nearest Sensory Isolation Flotation Tank
Book Review: Taking the Anomalous out of "Anomalous Perceptions"

August 2010 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Research Report: HSPs Are More Easily Bored in Their Relationships
Sensitive Men: Healing the Highly Sensitive Male by Ted Zeff, Ph.D.
International News: Israeli HSPs Meet in Tel Aviv

May 2010 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
HSP Living: Sensitive Summer Travel
Appreciating Sensitivity: Make Full Use of Your Sensitivity - Listening
With Depth: On "Inner Sensation Seeking"

February 2010 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Sensitive Men: A Love Letter to Highly Sensitive Men
Coping Corner : A Few "Happy" Things Regarding Depression
New Book: The Story behind The Undervalued Self

November 2009 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Gift of Time: Rebels for Time Spaciousness
Appreciating Sensitivity: We're Simply More Responsive
New Book: The Undervalued Self, Coming March 10

August 2009 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Coping Corner: Grief, Sensitivity, and Beyond
Your Questions Answered: How Does Sensitivity Differ from Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and the "Autistic Spectrum"
Story: The Princess and the Pea: A Story for Us
News: HSP Wins Car for Being Highly Sensitive

May 2009 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Questions Answered: Power in the Workplace & Are HSPs More Suggestible?
Insights: What Kind of Sensitive Are You?

February 2009 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
For Highly Sensitive Teenagers, Part V: School Troubles
HSP Living: More Answers to Some of Your Questions
Coping Corner: HSPs in Difficult Times

November 2008 Articles

A Letter from Elaine
HSP Living: Answers to Some of Your Questions
For Highly Sensitive Teenagers, Part IV: Friendships
Coping Corner: Highly Sensitive People & Shame

August 2008 Articles

A Letter from Elaine
For Highly Sensitive Teenagers, Part III:
Dealing with Your Strong Feelings
HSP Living: Back to School: HSPs and their Education
With Depth: Archetypal Vulnerability or Availability?

May 2008 Articles

A Letter from Elaine
For Highly Sensitive Teenagers, Part II: Dealing with the Rest of Your Family
Reading: What HSPs Need to Know About Why Good People Turn Evil
Coping Corner: Sensitive Men and Testosterone

February 2008 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
Research: Three Studies of HSPs Presented this Summer at the American Psychological Association
Coping Corner: HSPs in a Winter Wonderland (Not)
For Highly Sensitive Teenagers, Part I: Feeling Different

November 2007 Articles:

A Letter from Elaine
HSP Living: Something We Do Well - Enjoying the Subtle Pleasures in Life
Coping Corner: HSPs and the Accumulation of Birthdays
Sensitive (Mental) Health: HSPs and Trauma

August 2007 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Sensitivity in Culture: A Future Headline: "HSPs, the Key to Human Survival"
HSP Living: Highly Sensitive Attire - The Way We Dress
HSPs in Nature: Another Way to Receive Your Needed Dose of Nature - Day Camping

May 2007 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Summer Reading for HSPs: Cather's One of Ours, Mitchell's Black Swan Green, and Forrest's Help is on its Way
Coping Corner: A Meditation for HSPs on Criticism, the Killer
Sensitive Children: Working With Sensitive, Withdrawing Children
By Jan Kristal

February 2007 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Latest Research : What HSPs See: Our Brain Is Not as Easily Confused by Culture and Context
HSP Living: What HSPs Can Give and Get from Animals and Babies
Book Review : Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior - by Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson, Harvard University Press, 1998

November 2006 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Coping Corner: What to Do about Extravert Envy
Sensitivity and Work: HSPs and "Bullying" in the Work Place--Changes are Coming
Parenting Sensitive Children: Enjoying the Holidays with Your Highly Sensitive Child (Inner Child Included)

August 2006 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Looking Back: How the Concept of HSP (Quietly) Entered the Public Consciousness
Coping Corner: Thoughts on Vacations and Travel
Book Review : The Temperament Perspective by Jan Kristal

May 2006 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Personality and Temperament: The Highly Sensitive Person Who Is Also A High Sensation Seeker
Coping Corner: Jet Travel And HSPs
With Depth: Good Grief

February 2006 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Reflections on Research: Ignored No Longer: New Interest in Us, New Theories about Us
Parenting Sensitive Children: Growing Up Gifted Is Not Easy
Sensitive Emotion: HSPs and the Problem of Bearing an Unbearable Emotion

November 2005 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Sensitive Spirituality: The Highly Sensitive Person and the Numinous
Coping Corner: Teaching HSCs And HSPs to Swim, Drive, or Anything Else
Sensitive (Mental) Health: HSPs and Burnout

August 2005 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Let's Review: The Benefits of Being Highly Sensitive, for Ourselves and Our World
Coping Corner: Strengthening Your Decisions Through "Cardiac Exercise"
With Depth: The Shadow Side To High Sensitivity

May/June 2005 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
From the Field: How the HSPs Organized Themselves in Holland by Rijn de Jonge
Sensitive Children: How Can We Talk About Sensitivity to Children (For Example, to Sixth Graders)?
With Depth: A Book Review Leads to a Lesson about the Body
More Books: Three Quick Reviews

February/March 2005 Articles:
A Letter from Elaine
Coping Corner: The Highly Sensitive Parent
Sensitive Health: What To Say To The Professionals Who Doubt The Whole Idea Of High Sensitivity
With Depth: Seeing the Big Picture What We Do as Priestly Advisors

November/December 2004:
A Letter from Elaine
Coping Corner: "Worry is Faith in the Devil"--Containing Fear the HSP Way
With Depth: Healing the Split
The Highly Sensitive Child (and Adults, Too): Is Sensitivity the Same as Being Gifted?

August 2004:
A Letter from Elaine
Loneliness and Shedding the Protective Persona--Reflections on a Weekend with Twenty HSPs
Reflections on Research: HSPs Have Stronger Emotional Reactions (I know, "Big news.")
Sensitive Spirituality: Some New Thoughts to Add to Last Issue's Discussion of Enlightenment

May 2004:
A Letter from Elaine
Sensitive Spirituality: HSPs, Meditation, and Enlightenment
Sensitive (Mental) Health: What is the Relationship Between Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and High Sensitivity?

Comfort Zone (paper version)

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If you cannot download the PDF sample issue, you may either read the HTML articles listed below or request a sample issue via regular mail by sending your name and address to:

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Online Sample Articles From The Comfort Zone newsletter:

Excerpted from Volume I, Issue I (November 1996, inaugural issue)
The Highly Sensitive Person: A Refresher Course

Excerpted from Volume II, Issue I (February 1997)
Coping Corner: Noise!

Excerpted from Volume II, Issue II (May 1997)
Your Questions Answered
From Los Angeles: How can I describe being highly sensitive to other people?

Excerpted from Volume IV, Issue II (May 1999)
Reflections On Research: Results of the First Temperament and Sexuality Survey

Excerpted from Volume V, Issue II (May 2000)
Coping Corner: Tips for HSPs' Less Sensitive Friends and Lovers

Comfort Zone back issues are available for $7.00 each or special price of $23.00 per 4-issue volume set while supplies last. See the HSP Store or mail order (PDF) form for other quantity discounts. Following are descriptions of each issue:

Volume I, Issue 1, November 1996:

• The first, sample issue. Condensed.
• A brief "refresher course" on what it means to be highly sensitive (nice to show to others).
• Lots of Advice for HSPs during the holidays, including dealing with shopping and relatives.
• Reassuring research on how HSPs learn better than others from their mistakes.
• How to "Hold Peace Talks" Between the Tough and Sensitive parts of your psyche.
• An article especially for sensitive men on having and showing your emotions, and the Men's Movement.
• A review of a book about highly sensitive children (the book is now out of print).
  
• FREE (PDF document)

Volume II, Issue 1, February 1997:

• Coping with noise several pages of advice, some from an acoustical engineer.
• HSPs and feelings of inferiority and superiority minorities are always scorned or idealized, so how do we achieve a reasonable view of ourselves?
• Profile of an HSP professional speaker and executive coach Paul Radde is very sensitive, yet at home on a podium, speaking to thousands of top executives. How he has learned to "get out of his own way" so that he can give an audience what they need.
• Research on the exceptional health possible for HSPs children and adolescents with good-enough homes and schools are healthier than non-sensitive children and then how to achieve that excellent health.
• A vocational psychologist on choosing work environments an issue that may be more important than your choice of career.

Volume II, Issue 2, May 1997:

• How do I describe my trait to others? Here's your "sound bite" and how to adjust it according to your audience and your goals.
• Tips for friends and partners of HSPs hand this to those near and dear and see your relationships improve overnight.
• Our common vocation, whatever we are doing the role of priestly advisor, teaching non-sensitive people about what they may have overlooked and how to do that.
• An interview with a doctor specializing in HSPs the lecture on being sensitive that she gives all of them; the effect of aging and hormonal changes for HSPs, both men and women.
• Learning about HSP's complexes from Joseph the Dreamer a story with some parallels to our problems balancing feeling tough and yet vulnerable, inferior yet superior, discussed in earlier issues. The solution may be in your dreams, so this issue gives a quick course in dream interpretation.

Volume II, Issue 3, August 1997:

• A study of another species that suggests how HSPs evolved the two strategies (one is ours) found within many or all species, even pumpkinseed sunfish.
• Controlling depression naturally tips from four different books on how to increase serotonin (the brain fuel/neurotransmitter that HSPs use up first).
• Ideas from psychotherapist Elayne Savage's book on how not to take things so darn personally!
• An article by a preschool teacher on educating sensitive children.
• Maintaining boundaries in relationships without burning your bridges an HSP tells a story of how she did it with a dear, life-long, but high maintenance friend.

Volume II, Issue 4, November 1997:

• Dealing with difficult people being sure it isn't you that's being difficult, identifying people with deep problems, and coping strategies so you are not their victim.
• Noise, Machinery, and the Sensitive an HSP discusses the assault on our senses and how to regain control over physical and spiritual sensibilities.
• Coping with change and loss why every change is a loss, why HSPs are more affected, and ways to cope with losses, both large and small.
• An excerpt from Achieving Emotional Literacy, by Claude Steiner, adapted by the author for HSPs transactional tools that will change how you communicate when you start to feel something intensely.

Volume III, Issue 1, February 1998:

• Using active imagination, the doorway into your unconscious that, unlike dreams, you can enter any time.
• A fascinating article by a highly sensitive veterinarian on highly sensitive animals.
• Excerpts from Sensitivity Agony or Ecstasy, an unpublished book by a doctor who understood about sensitivity years ago.
• A summary of research showing that spirituality is partially an inherited trait, and why it might be the same as sensitivity.
• A sensitive doctor tells how HSPs can get the most from medical visits, even though about 3% of doctors are highly sensitive (and 40% of their patients are no wonder we have trouble with them!).

Volume III, Issue 2, May 1998:

• Advice for introverts (who are 70% of HSPs) on how to succeed in an extraverted world nine important ideas.
• An in-depth look at the relation of sensitivity to introversion and other traits measured by the Myers Briggs (sensing, intuition, thinking, feeling, etc.).
• How sensitivity relates to Attention Deficit Disorder and autism.
• A letter from one sensitive man to the others about tears, shyness, sex, and the men's movement.
• A book review of Cinderella and Her Sisters why HSPs are often envied, and what happens then to good and evil?
• An HSP writes about his own experience with the unspeakable depths of grief that we can feel and the unspoken comfort that we can sense and use.
• Two HSPs describe their marriage how they met, worked out a lifestyle, and deepened their appreciation of their trait.
• A hilarious description of an HSP's "alphabet of everyday life": "to do x I must first do y, but I may as well do z too, although w and v should be done even before..."

Volume III, Issue 3, August 1998:

• An HSP and expert in eating disorders reports on her findings about the relationship between the two (low-self-esteem, eating to deal with overarousal, etc.).
• An expert on working with sensitive children provides specific ideas. Plus a parent describes her sensitive son and how they have handled issues about food, TV, and discussing sensitivity with their child.
• Part 1 of 3, The archetype of the victim and dominator relationships why HSPs usually side with the victims and may even feel like one.
• A highly sensitive doctor discusses the relation between the trait and fibromyalgia its diagnosis, theories about its cause, and treatment options.
• A review of Schlesinger's Robert Kennedy and His Times the many reasons to think RFK was an HSP.
• How HSPS should use vacation time and how to enjoy travel, including tips on taking a walking trip in Europe.

Volume III, Issue 4, November 1998:

• Part 2 of 3, More on the archetypal relationship of the victim and dominator why cruelty is not normal to our species and what changed us (hint horses were involved).
• A book review of Voices of the First Day by Robert Lawlor all about the sensitivity of the people who developed in isolation on the Australian continent and the ancient sensitive human inside of us.
• Help for HSPs who ever may need to interview for a job.
• A host of ideas for changing your work place environment to suit your sensitivity.
• A letter by a reader suggesting herbal treatments for HSPs knowing when to use "hot" and "cold" herbs, herbs for overstimulation, etc.

Volume IV, Issue 1, February 1999:

• Part 1 of 2, Anger and HSPs are we more irritable? When is anger useful to us? How to express it? Sensitive men and anger.
• Part 3 of 3, More on the archetypal relationship between the victim and dominator the failure to take trauma and the experience of being dominated into account when diagnosing psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, and the five stages/states of dealing with such experiences, and the psychology of the dominator.
• A sensitive man writes to others like him getting over how we were socialized, making better choices, and applying your talents.
• An HSP writes about his experience with the Twelve Steps why they are harder for an HSP and the possible role of medication.

Volume IV, Issue 2, May 1999:

• Part 1 of 2, On of the results of the first Temperament and Sexuality Survey where we stand on sexual problems, the meaning of sex for us, pornography, sexual stimulation, what's particularly true of sensitive women, sensitive men.
• Part 2 of 2 on anger its role in close relationships, using anger effectively, how to respond to it from someone close and from those not-so-close, women and anger, those who deny anger.
• Especially for sensitive women why sexism affects us more, the importance of fathers, the issues of early marriage and motherhood, and the risk of trying to be superwoman.
• Why and how it can work so well for HSPs to be self-employed.
• A book review of The Overload Syndrome by Richard Swenson a doctor studying the interaction of faith, health, and culture speaks out on the danger of our increasing exposure to stimulation, the lack of solitude, the problem of the "highly productive person" inside us all, and how he changed his life on a Tuesday night in 1982.

Volume IV, Issue 3, August 1999:

• Part 2 of 2, More results of the First Temperament and Sexuality Survey what if you are sensitive but also a high sensation seeker? How sensitive men and women differ. How HSPs change about sex after their twenties, the intensity of sexual experience, the strong empathic connection, and the obstacles some have encountered.
• Three steps and four clever techniques for really knowing when and how to say "no" at work.
• A book review of Never Good Enough, in which you learn about the inward and outward perfectionist types and the latest treatment for those automatic thoughts and assumptions that can turn sensitivity into the burden of perfectionism.
• A profile of a sensitive woman Gertrude Jekyll, England's greatest landscape artist.
• All about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and its relationship to being highly sensitive, by an HSP who knows the subject from personal experience and study.

Volume IV, Issue 4, November 1999:

• Especially for sensitive women how the older sensitive mother of a very sensitive infant has coped, and some thoughts for those dealing with menopause.
• The three faces of work drudgery (its dangers for HSPs especially), craft, and calling and what each means for HSPs.
• Getting along with non-HSPs during the holidays.
• Surviving confrontations with difficult non-HSPs.
• Another way to look at millennium fears the apocalyptic vision and solving the problem of evil, inside or else it must be outside.
• Some brilliant suggestions from those attending a course for HSPs on creating buffers, whether and when to "crash," and choosing to disengage.

Volume V, Issue 1, February 2000:

• When an HSP grows up in a family of non-HSPs mother and child, father and child, and those less sensitive siblings; the effect of the family as a whole on our relationships with groups, and dealing with your family now.
• A highly sensitive doctor on what HSPs should know about the adrenal glands (which produce cortisol, the stress hormone)--what can be done to find out how yours are doing and what to do if they are worn out plus, how to find an M.D. who practices Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM).
• A book review of Why You Can't Be Anything You Want to Be, which can help you give up the myth that "you can do anything" so that you can do what will actually be best for you (using his MAP or Motivated Abilities Pattern, which takes several hours to do and is much like a visit to a good vocational counselor).
• A highly sensitive high school principal talks what we as HSPs can do for the youth around us her tips clearly show long experience with every sort of teenager.
• The editor responds to a subscriber, a sensitive single mother, who writes, "I HATE my trait!" because of all the trouble it causes her.
• An HSP writes about his encounters with doctors and how he has learned to get the truth and the treatment he needs.

Volume V, Issue 2, May 2000:

• An HSP writes about how being permanently disabled by an automobile accident coping with the HSP's seeing into the future, using creativity, using the body's sensitivity, finding the right doctors, etc.
• More "Tips for HSPs' less sensitive friends and lovers" something like this was in the May 1997 issue, but this is a much longer revision based on research done for The Highly Sensitive Person. Give it to your friends.
• HSP and spirituality we tend to feel passionately about spiritual matters, with many inner voices the Devout, the Mystic, and, yes, the Modern, Scientific Skeptic. So the editor writes a little about the problem of doubt, how we know anything, and the meaning of personal spiritual experiences such as dreams and moments of transcendence in meditation.
• Part 1 of 3: An HSP provides valuable ideas for finding the right kind of yoga practice for us, including guidelines for attending classes and the best videos and books.
• A book review of Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Kurcinka, in which she writes about sensitive children and other temperament traits.
• Another book review, Let Your Life Speak, by Parker Palmer (voted one of the 30 most influential leaders in higher education), a marvelous sensitive man who took many years to create his unique vocational path.
• Your editor responds to a frequent question about how, as an HSP, she is able to speak in public without feeling nervous.

Volume V, Issue 3, August, 2000:

• "What's an archetype good for?" The practical uses for HSP of an idea from depth psychology (for example, using our inherited instinctual knowledge of how to handle situations).
• An inspiring article by an organic farmer about working close to the earth instead of in an office.
• From a course for HSPs: An example of an HSP saying yes, meaning no, and gaining the courage to get over her fear and do what she needed to do.
• An HSP writes about C.S. Lewis, his difficult life during war and peace, his questioning of revolution as the answer to injustice, his very thoughtful and intelligent turning to God, thoughts, and why he is an important author for us.
• Part 2 of 3 on Yoga for HSPs what to feel and notice during any yoga practice and why not to use it as exercise.
• An HSP discusses in depth the issue of medical care as a means of curing disorders while the problem is healing the ego's separation from spirit but why we should not be discouraged by modern medicine.
• Excerpt from an actual sermon given in Denver on March 26, 2000 why sensitivity is not a sin, and why one ought to be a born-again sensitive person!
• A review of a wonderful book, Balancing Heaven and Earth, by Robert Johnson, a Jungian analyst who at 76 is certain about some important matters, including that his life, and ours, is guided by a "slender thread" of fate, destiny, or God's will, and "there is one right thing and only one right thing to do at every moment."
• A review of another great book, A General Theory of Love, by three psychiatrists who really know how we do or do not grow up feeling and receiving love, what the brain is doing in each case, and how it can be changed in adulthood.

Volume V, Issue 4, November, 2000:

• Since HSP tend to feel everything more, this article on "Handling Emotional Pain" attempts to work with this fact, rather than telling you to get over it.
• A non-hysterical review of Prozac Backlash what to think and do if you are taking anti-depressants.
• An article by licensed counselor and HSP gathering organizer J. Strickland on the value of group connection and validation for taking action to "Unlock our HSP Gifts."
• Part 3 of 3 on Yoga for HSPs going beyond the physical and trying meditation, which is also part of yoga.
• An HSP earning her doctorate in ecopsychology writes about all information we HSP can receive from nature and our bodies: The title, "We Have Fifty-three Senses? I Can't Handle Five!"
• Coping with driving, one of the biggest sources of overstimulation for HSPs including the fear of driving, learning to drive, and dealing with driving fatigue.
• An HSP writes about the simple joy and restoration to be found in "Coming Home for Lunch."
• A fascinating study of The Last Romanovs, HSPs who were caught in the storm of history and sought safety and solitude by giving up their power to Rasputin. But there is another story here, of faith, humility, persistence, and courage, even while imprisoned and facing death.

Volume VI, Issue 1, February 2001:

• A discussion of a new theory on why some people (those with early childhood trauma) have nightmares that are worse than anything that could have happened to them.
• Barrie Jaeger, vocational counselor and HSP, writes about how exactly one actually finds one's true calling and what it means to be "called to grace" and to become graceful in one's work
• Moving to a new home the underestimated stressor for HSPs whether to move, where to move, how to move, adjusting after a move.
• The highly sensitive high school principal who wrote about helping young people (Feb. 2000 issue) offers her insights on how to help the adults who turn to us when their life is in chaos
• Insights about HSP from a conference on temperament in particular, the role of North American culture, through parenting and educational practices, and how that has affected those raised in that culture.
• A clinical psychologist writes about the amygdala, the part of the brain most affected by stress, and how certain forms of therapy work particularly well with HSPs who need to discharge old emotions, reprocess trauma, and overcome "wired in" fears.
• A book review of The Giver, one of those rare stories about an HSP. Jona lives in a world in which only a few sensitive persons receive the memories for the whole society (sound familiar?). The others only receive the lesson to be learned from the past, through the Giver.

Volume VI, Issue 2, May 2001:

• Part 1 of 2 on HSPs who are also sensation seekers what it means, the difficulties and advantages, finding the right friends and partner, and how the combination can help in the work place.
• What I learned about adult HSPs from studying sensitive children in order to write The Highly Sensitive Child in particular, the role of parents and the changing nature of shyness as we grow up.
• An HSP explains "Cohousing" (an import from Europe, but there are already 50 in the U.S.) how it works, how to find it, and why it could be perfect for HSPs, since you have solitude yet a familiar set of neighbors for company and help.
• The HSP' guide to air travel some very clever tips from a frequent flyer (an article many people have praised as especially useful).
• A book review of The Religious Function of the Psyche by Jungian analyst Lionel Corbett, who suggests that we are each receiving and creating our own religious symbols and connections to the divine, and that for many it is the only way left of finding a truly satisfying form of spirituality.
• An HSP who graduated from college at 79 how being "over aroused" (so much so that she often couldn't eat) and "under confident" (because she was afraid that her intense emotions would overwhelm her in public) stood in her way her entire life, until she received the support she needed.
• A talk given to the first annual gathering of HSPs how to get along at a gathering, and a look at our spiritual life.

Volume VI, Issue 3, August 2001:

• Part 2 of 2 on HSP who are also sensation seekers this part by someone who is one. She talks about the crazy things the HSS part gets her into, the fears the HSP part has developed as a result, and how she has conquered those fears and established a conscious collaboration between the two.
• A wonderful article summarizing C. S. Lewis's seven points about human pain, and the link between these and the seven chakras.
• An HSP writes about his experiences with Quakers what to expect at a Quaker meeting and how to find one.
• A biologist reports research on two "personality types" in fruit flies to help explain the genetics of sensitivity in humans.
• Advice for enjoying your not-so-sensitive friends ideas like planning in breaks from each other ahead of time, getting equal time during conversations, and letting them help you do what's easy for them and hard for you.
• A report on the first HSP Gathering for example, how the group "wrote their own rules" for being in close proximity with each other and exchanged ways they had developed for defending and explaining themselves to others.

Volume VI, Issue 4, November 2001:

• A post-9/11 editorial on coping during such times grieving in small doses, finding someone to be your media filter, accepting that you may only be a witness to events beyond your control, gaining a historical history, summoning your courageous self, and more.
• An article on the intensity for HSP of the basic human experiences of "Connection, Separateness, Merger, Aching Isolation, and Love."
• A review of Jung and the Alchemical Imagination, by Jungian analyst Jeffrey Raffe here's a scholar who actually teaches how to use the alchemical symbols, a path based on western mystical traditions, to understand those dreams and visions that are attempting to lead you towards the ultimate spiritual goal.
• An article on right hemisphere "imbalance" what it really means, why HSPs are born with more right hemisphere activity but develop balance with adequate parenting, and how you can develop more emotional self-regulation by balancing the left and right.
• A "shadow side" to being highly sensitive, that we can be detailed and accurate critics of others why we do it more to those we love and the role of our own mood and self-esteem.

Volume VII, Issue 1, February 2002:

• More thoughts on noise (also a topic in the very first issue) for example, why you might not want to move to the country as a solution, and the psychology of being bothered.
• Part 1 of 2 on a highly sensitive Assistance Dog ("seeing eye dog" plus more) named Valik how dogs are chosen by personality for different jobs and what a sensitive dog is best at doing (an interesting way to learn about your own best vocational choice).
• Coping with criticism every HSP takes criticism more personally than non-HSPs, but there are still ways to take out some of the sting by considering who said it, why, etc.
• Part 1 of 2 on "Is there a true self after Paxil?" How can you think you have a certain self and personality and seek to know your "true inner self"--if medications can alter you so much?
• A book review of The Noonday Demon, the autobiography of one man's life-long struggle with intense chronic depression and the editor's comments on depression and the unnamed trait of sensitivity that was at the core of the author's personality
• A meditation of hope and love that you can do at home, by Jacquelyn Strickland.

Volume VII, Issue 2, May 2002:

• Advice suitable for HSP on sleep and sleep problems ideas you won't find in all the other articles on how to get a good night's sleep.
• An HSP looks back on his divorce and tells the startling story of what happened to him because they both knew so little about his temperament.
• Part 2 of 2 on what HSP can learn from Valik, the HS working dog. The subject is how to train a sensitive individual, whether dog or human some things that definitely do not work as well as some that do.
• Part 2 of 2 on. "Is there a true self after Paxil?" How to interpret all the reports these days explaining everything from religion to altruism as "only" due to genes and brain chemistry (why you cannot be reduced to pure matter).
• A subscriber suggests a powerful exercise for handling depression one that has always stopped her "downward spirals."

Volume VII, Issue 3, August 2002:

• A deep and careful exploration of what C. G. Jung said in 1913 about innate "sensitiveness," full of his own words and what we can learn from them.
• A review of Thrival! by HSP Paul Radde (see the first issue) this is a radically new type of self-help book, written as if for non-HSP CEOs, but really very subtle.
• A subscriber offers several meditation techniques from Pena Chodron's The Places that Scare You for those times when we must deal with our most powerful feelings, or those of others.
• Jacquelyn Strickland writes about the Culture of HSPs what it means that we are a culture and the stages of becoming aware of it--and also about a number of subcultures or types of sensitivity and their roles in the world (social activist, healer, artist, etc.).
• A subscriber writes about the Aboriginal dreamtime (see Nov. 1998 issue) and the second nervous system we all have HSPs in particular but on which the Aborigines relied much more. The author seeks to reclaim the use of this second nervous system, found throughout the body but especially in the abdomen.

Volume VII, Issue 4, November 2002:

• Author and essayist John Skoyles allowed us to reprint his personal experience of an HSC named Jake a lovely piece, not to be missed.
• Getting the most from your weekend the value of having a plan, being mindful, getting into nature, and more...
• A review of The Tao of Equus: What we can learn from horses, a very sensitive species often criticized for the same things as we are, plus much more a very interesting article, including some remarkable personal experiences with the uncanny side of the equine spirit.
• A review of Daughter of Fire, the amazing diary of a sensitive woman's five horrific years in India while she sought enlightenment through her love for a very special sufi master
• "Dreaming Awake Life," an article by ecopsychologist Marlow Shami (see Nov. 2000) on the role of dreams in awakening our sensitive selves to the subtle messages in nature.

Volume VIII, Issue 1, February 2003:

• "Don't take it so personally" why HSPs just do, and how to reduce it.
• An HSP writes about the very resilient, insightful ways she has survived her lay off and the long period of searching for the right new position, plus providing insights about talking to others who are out of work.
• A mostly silly report on research suggesting "inhibited" types (often equated with HSPs) can become dangerous killers could we use a touch of this public image?
• "The pain of knowing" what others are thinking and feeling when you are a Black female HSP.
• An HSP writes about the value of exercise (after it was forced upon him) and how he learned to use a gym and machines in an HSP-comfortable way.
• On keeping a dream journal and what to do when you have a "big dream" something that feels awesome and important.

Volume VIII, Issue 2, May 2003:

• Managing fears created by (seeming) world crises using such times to gain a larger perspective, practice equanimity, and use love to overcome fear.
• Part 1 of 3, a check-up for HSPs concerning emotions and intellect defining the terms and understanding the role of the unconscious.
• A sensitive mother writes about homeschooling HSCs how "Learning by Living" comes naturally with daily events, and how her children became brighter than they ever would have in school.
• Learning conversations Claudia L'Amoreaux, an HSP who is a coach and educational consultant, teaches a reflective practice for expanding the choices we perceive to be open to us.
• Discussing your trait with your therapist (or would-be therapist) when to bring it up, what to say, and what reactions to watch for, plus, should your therapist be highly sensitive?

Volume VIII, Issue 3, August 2003:

• Part 2 of 3, on the Emotions and Intellect help with the four emotional problems: feeling too much, too little, inexplicably strong emotion, and emotions that are operating only from the unconscious but affecting behavior and health.
• A participant at an HSP Gathering shares his experiences.
• Fascinating research suggesting that close relationships are as important for your health as not smoking!
• Some excerpts from the newsletter published by the HSP Network in Japan.
• Coping with big parties and celebrations, with the help of Dionysus.
• A review of Healing the Wounded God by Jungian analyst Jeffrey Rafe (Nov. 2001 issue), with exquisite and explicit instructions for a path based on western esoteric traditions this time he teaches how to contact your personal ally and reunite with God heady stuff for HSPs.

Volume VIII, Issue 4, November 2003:

• Part 3 of 3 on the Emotions and Intellect, finding a balance between them, and then moving beyond those two, who only seek survival, to locate the third, the witnessing ego.
• All about making decisions we are very good at decision making, but find it difficult, so here are some pointers for taking the pain out of choices.
• An HSP struggling with a long-term life crisis describes how she and you and I can "Allow Joy to Find Us," and even why we might be especially well equipped to do just that.
• More about HSPs at work: Are HSPs Competitive? Yes (we can keep up with the best of them, using our different strategy of "observe, prepare, and do it once but do it right") and also No (a long list of reasons why HSPs say they are less competitive than most people).
• "Some are Teachers, Some are Not" an HSP in her eighties looks back on the lessons her body taught her about trying to do work for which she was not suited.

Volume IX, Issue 1, February 2004:

• With Depth: At the Crossroads of Love and Power
• Reflections on Research: Why HSPs Must Read Between the Lines
• A Poem by Charles Gulotta
• Four Book Reviews on Work and Power
• Facing the Future: Ch-ch-ch-changes by Marcia Norris
• Coping Corner: Coping with Endings, What to Do About the Inner Critic, and the Technique of Voice Dialogue
• Sensitive Health: Sensitive Women and Their Hormones