This is a great book, with lots of information. Having so much information and practices and tips and explanations all at once was quite overwhelming for me. I tried to read the book quite quickly so I couldn't try the advice in the book as I was reading it, and that was the biggest draw back for me. Perhaps if I had read it more slowly and I had had time to integrate everything and try out some things, it would've been great for me. So ultimately I think this is a great book, just not what I was looking for at the time.

The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People by Mel Collins offers an interesting overview of what is like to be a "highly sensitive person" and how to find your way around it. Structured in three sections - what HSP truly is, what strategies we can apply to navigate it and the alternative practices that we can add as well.

If you are looking for a concise, well-written book that would give you a good overview of what it means to be a highly sensitive individual, this is the book for you! It will not only discuss what it's like to be highly sensitive, but also provide you with all the strategies you need.

Just want to insert a quick note - this is really more of a handbook rather than an in-depth exploration of HSP. It's a good introductory read to what it means to be highly sensitive, but it's not an extensive read. Also the "alternative" section of the book might not be everyone's cup of tea. But as Collins pointed out, you can easily skip it if you need to as it's not compulsory part of the book. Having this in mind, I think you won't be disappointed. 

It's easy to read and packed with strategies!

This is an easily readable book written by a self-proclaimed highly sensitive person about how to navigate the world as such. Parts will not resonate with all readers, as there is a decidedly new age aspect to it. Still an interesting read.

This was a very interesting book, gives a lot of food for thought, helping the highly sensitive person to embrace and thrive with this wonderful gift.

The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People is not really a handbook, but the author's opinions and studies. There is some good advice, but I have read much better advice and factual proven studies in other books.

Whilst I did struggle to connect with the spiritual suggestions, I did find the first two thirds of the book helpful in terms of identifying highly sensitive person traits and ways to help such a person (myself or others). Im grateful to Netgallley for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

The world is full of complex and interesting people and this book covers the amazing people who suffer? being highly sensitive. I see it as a bonus. The book covers this perfectly. Some very useful information to enable the reader to understand themselves or perhaps understand a person dear to them. I definitely highly recommend this.

I had some issues with this book so let's start with saying that I am sure her are readers out there that will apreaicate the book exactly as it is and how it was written and connect with it and be utterly thankful for it.
For me it was not that.

For one I find that's if a book is called 'handbook' it should offer a bit more of actual ideas and solutions for the people having what the book suggests it offers answers for. For example I was expecting a bit more of ideas on how to handle people that don't believe that highly sensitive is actually a thing, that if someone is saying they are highly sensitive they are not in fact overreacting or should get it together. Give me examples on how to deal with that kind of person form a teacher to a boss, please! That's an actual problem that would need and could need some good tips if you are someone that is highly sensitive!
Or maybe even some suggestions on how to find a job that will support your high sensitivity and how to geht to that jo? Now I don't mean a detailed step by step list but for example saying that highly sensitive people are great with figuring out other people's emotions and might enjoy a job in that area is not very helpful, now is it? Becuse to do that there are for example a lot of schooling and tests involved that as the book itself stats is hard for a lot of highly sensitive people...
but it overs no ideas on how someone might dela better with those sitations or find other solutions to mäke it work.
But that is exactly what in my eyes a handbook would be. Giving the readier ideas or inspirations or even solutations for difficult sitations!

I also didn't appreciate the constant repreativeness of this book. It's mentioned in the book that quiet a few highly sensitive people have an almost too good memory and yet the book keeps on repeating similar or even the same things overland over Again.

I also didn't thing that almost half the book was needed to discuss spiritual things around and with HSP. Why is there a need to discuss spiritial beliefs of different kinds in this book so independent? Especially if it not marketed as a spiritual book, or was it marketed as such and I missed that? Could be. Sorry if it as and I missed it, my mistake then!


As I sad at the beginning of this review. I am sure there are people that will love this. I was sadly highly disappointed by this and find the title and description of this book very Misleading. But not every book can be for everyone.

Thanks to Watkins Publishing and NetGalley, I had the chance to read The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People by Mel Collins in exchange for an honest review. I’ve been fascinated by the concept of HSPs for several years, ever since I read about it and had a “Eureka!” moment. I’ve known since I was about four years old that I was more sensitive than others. Teasing, tickling, any game where I might be laughed at were all torture for me. I’ve heard parents use the phrase “suck it up” and have had the thought that I hoped their children weren’t HSPs…that kind of treatment suggests a future with years of therapy, IMHO.

In any case, this book provides some excellent information. Although Carl Jung introduced the concept of “innate sensitivity” long ago, it was Dr. Elaine Aron who conveyed the idea that high sensitivity is not a disorder or illness, but rather an innate temperate trait. And what I found really interesting is that apparently one-third of all HSPs were extroverts – huh? So high sensitivity and extroversion can coexist. Who knew? (For sure, I didn’t!).

Here are some of the signs that you might be an HSP, as outlined in the first third of the book:

You have often been told you are too sensitive for your own good (or similar words, same idea)
You seem to have stronger emotions or feel things more deeply than others
You feel overwhelmed around large groups and tend to withdraw
You are very uncomfortable with loud noises, crowds, or negativity and want to escape
You are highly intuitive and can sense if “something is wrong”
You are very conscientious and take a long time to make decisions
You have a strong ability to focus/concentrate
You are attentive to detail (possible a perfectionist)
You feel strongly about social justice
You are very worried about the environment
You often ignore signals from your body, ending up frazzled/overwhelmed/burned out
You have used alcohol, food or drugs to cope
And at least a dozen more. That checklist made total sense to me, BTW.

The next part of the book provides coping strategies for HSPs, looking at the various “masks” they might wear (such as martyr, people-pleaser, etc.) and explores ways an HSP might begin to feel more valued.

The final section of the book veered off into the spiritual realm, while still including some practical advice. There are things like tapping, energy protection (from electromagnetic fields) and tuning into animals as healers – then of course angels, the unseen world, and past life experiences – like I said, not for everyone.

Overall, she has written clearly and positively about a challenging subject. IMHO many HSPs are unaware that this really is a THING, and possibly as many as 1 in 5 people share this trait. The reassurance such information can provide seems incredibly important…I just wish I could have had this information forty years ago! Four stars (I dropped one because the “woo-woo” stuff will surely turn off some readers…but that makes it no less valuable.

I loved this book. I am an HSP and am very interested in how to deal with life as an HSP. This book is well informed and also covers spirituality. I am very new to the spiritual way of thinking but it does really resonate with me so it was great to find it talked about in this book. If you are an HSP or you know an HSP this book really is worth reading.

Book: “The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People: How to Transform Feeling Overwhelmed and Frazzled to Empowered and Fulfilled,” by Mel Collins, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

The book is available January 15, 2019.

Mel Collins worked in a prison for over 10 years as a HSP or Highly Sensitive Person. She realized that this was not the best match and so studied to become a therapist which was ideal for her intuitive abilities.

Some people are scared that they are so highly sensitive or intuitive but Mel Collins sees this as a gift. She believes in having a balanced life between the feminine and the masculine aspects or the yin and yang of the person.

She also believes in having a balance between physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. By keeping these areas balanced and shiny like a diamond, there will be very positive results for the HSP.

Mel Collins talks about the chakras and the auric field. She talks about EFT tapping. She discusses ways to protect HSP from outside energies in a number of ways.

There area a number of ways to deal with energy fields. First is the golden light technique, second is visualizing using colours, third is the spotlight method, fourth is crystal therapy and fifth is prayer or faith-based techniques. It is important to clear energetic hooks or cords and cleansing your aura and chakras by the silver shower method, the violet flame method, or smudging or burning sage. Plus, there is the power of salt and the pool of purification method.

Mel Collins says there are earthbound spirits that may attach to a HSP because of the lighter and higher vibrations the person is giving off and because the person is a helper. In these cases, it is important to get the spirit to understand that they are no longer living and should move onto the light.

She talks about the divine blueprint that is with all of us before we reincarnated. We often deal with outstanding issues from previous lifetimes. Mel also does past-life regression therapy work and feels it could be important to realizing why we are here on Earth.

I found the book about Highly Sensitive People to be a good one because I am one. I thought what can this author teach me that I already don't know about myself and the spirit world but she did a pretty good overview. I liked the book and would recommend it to people who are intuitive but still developing their spiritual practice. For those who have been evolving for awhile, it is a good overview.


Tags: highly sensitive people, person, intuition, yin, yang, masculine, feminine, chakras, aura, energy field, spirit, spirituality, past-life regression, emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.

With a holistic perceptive, the author created a handbook to help High Sensitive People to understand their emotions and how to handle it.

#TheHandbookForHighlySensitivePeople #NetGalley

This book had some interesting things to say about Highly Sensitive People. I would describe myself as sensitive rather than highly sensitive but I was interested to read about the subject. I felt that the book gave a good understanding of HSP and many of the coping techniques and the positive attitude promoted could be applied to all personalities. I lost interest in the book as it went on. Much of what was suggested was common sense and nothing new. The book really lost me when it started on about psychic abilities and ghosts.

Mel Collins has written an absolute gem of a book based on HSP.

The book has 3 sections, the first describes what High sensitivity is, the challenges you face and what we attract.

Section 2 gives the reader self hep strategies ...focuses on self love, and helps you sort through emotional issues.

Section 3 gives reader a spiritual perspective, explores past lives, and helps you grow and prosper as a hsp.

As a Hsp myself, I literally felt this book was a true gift to me.. packed full of information and made me realise just how common it is , so that made me feel less alone.

HSP affects 1 in 5 people... that's 1.5 billion people globally. But people just don't seem to talk about it, which leaves us sufferers feeling isolated and alone. This book is a god send . And I will definitely recommend it to everyone I know who is affected by high sensitivity.
Thank you so much for allowing me to read in return for an honest review. 5 stars

This book is a great resource which provides the reader with insight and practical information to assist and facilitate personal growth. This is a must read for any HSP’s or people that love them.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Watkins Publishing and Mel Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

What is a highly sensitive person? Well, Mel Collins claims that almost 20% of the population are HSPs. They include people who process emotions more deeply than others, often being told they are too sensitive, or shouldn’t take things too personally. They are more reaction to the positive and negative emotions of others and can have a heightened response to environmental stimuli. Collins is a UK psychotherapeutic counsellor, spiritual healer and reiki master. She makes It clear that she doesn’t come from a scientific background and has gathered this data by working with people (including the prison system) over the past 15 years.

When I first started reading about what an HSP was, I started to relate to a number of things. I have been told my whole life that I am too sensitive, that I should toughen up, have high levels of empathy and have a feeling of not belonging, including in my own family. I don’t have all the qualifiers, like the environmental issues, but enough that I certainly fell into this category. As I continued to read on about how this manifests in your life, how it shapes your personality, etc. I really began to get excited and thought “Wow! This sort of explains my whole life”. It certainly spoke to a lot of my childhood, career choices and decisions that I have made along the way. It was viewed as a negative and I really felt like it was just me. There was something wrong with me, that I heard things differently than other people and took things too personally and got too defensive. That other, “normal”, people didn’t behave like this. So, naturally, you start to feel some validation when you realize there is a whole group of people who are like that and that it can be viewed as a strength and not a weakness.

Collins does an excellent job at identifying and explaining what an HSP is and what the challenges you might have faced during your life. She walks you through an extensive number of self-help strategies to help reshape your thinking into finding the positive. There is a third section on spirituality that goes more into the “woo-woo” aspects of crystal healing, spiritual guides (angels), earthbound should (ghosts) and other such stuff that she says in the beginning, if that’s not your cup of tea, skip it.

What I found, as I started to go through the self-help solutions, was that I had heard all of this before. Collins talks about self-love and softening your inner critic. Forgiveness and not comparing yourself to others is something that can help everyone. Setting boundaries and using things like meditation and positive affirmations to help keep doubt and worry at bay. She also talks about tapping as another strategy to help you in real life situations where you need to get control over how you are feeling. I began to wonder, if these were the solutions, then what is so special about being an HSP. Everyone uses these solutions if you are trying to live a more peaceful life. Be in nature, be in the moment, don’t focus on the past, are all messages I have heard from many other experts.

These self help strategies, echoes of what others have said, are sound and it is nice to have them in a step by step format, in one place. You can easily skip those sections that you don’t personally have an issue with so I found the book easy to use. To me, however, it just undermined the whole notion of being a highly sensitive person. Worthwhile read, just not sure I buy into the premise.

The perfect book for people like myself. Now I know there are others like me out there. It was as if the author described my life to a tee! I enjoyed this book very much! I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Mel Collins' "The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People" is full of tips, techniques, and coping strategies for highly sensitive individuals or HSP's. this book is approached from the perspective that even though being an HSP can be difficult at times, it is a gift and not a flaw. It uses many cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to effectively deal with overstimulation or overwhelm, and common other aspects of the HSP's life. My favorite sections were the self love solution 12 step guide, especially the step about learning to say no without guilt, and the soul awareness meditation. I found the mediation particularly helpful in grounding myself before a stressful event, or when becoming overstimulated/overwhelmed. I highly recommend this for any individual who considers themselves an HSP or Empath, or has HSP or Empath characteristics!

An interesting read. This book seems to merge personal experience, facts & beliefs systems. I don't have a problem with any of these but I'm not sure how comfortable I am with them all being in the same book & presented in the same way. The author has put them in different sections so I wouldn't say they are trying to present it all as fact per se but I do think it is a bit murky & some readers could get a little muddled.

I have been a hsp for over 20 years. This gives clear insight into the conditions and has lots of helpful advice on how to manage the world. Really liked it.