Being a nurse I feel as though I went into this field because I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) and truly love caring for others. Is is hard being sensitive in this field because I carry with me the pain and emotions of my patients. This book begins characterizing HSP then moves into the impact a HSP can have on someone, the third portion discusses ways to embrace being a HSP and then finishes with spiritual awakening and techniques to harness this. This book was fantastic and eye-opening for me and I will highly recommend to others.

An interesting introduction to this topic - I am sure it will be of great use to those who are HSP
Thanks for the advanced copy

This was brilliantly inspiring & easy to read. It wasn’t patronising or assuming prior knowledge. I feel like it can be read by anyone at any stage of their self-awareness journey.

I loved the third section on spirituality but I also appreciate it was good in all one place for those who don’t want to delve into this aspect as they can skip it!

I’ve already recommended it to a friend!

Four stars

A great resource for sensitive individuals with tools for living life.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Watkins Publishing and Mel Collins for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

Have you ever wondered if you’re a highly sensitive person? Or even what that means? I certainly have. This book is helpful in determining if you’re a highly sensitive person with checklists, quizzes, and more detailed information. Also there’s practical steps to help you live in a world not meant for HSPs. I really enjoyed the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the book, as the information was comprehensive, practical and found myself relating to a lot of it.

However, the last third of the book focused more on the spiritual aspects of being a HSP, with a focus on some of the more out there topics. These include past lives, chakras and energies, crystals, earthbound souls, and tapping. Not judging these beliefs and practices, but they’re not for me. I do appreciate that the author does state that these are not for all people and keeps them in the last section of the book. It’s really easy to read the sections that pertain to you.

Overall an interesting informative book about a topic that not many people talk about. Certain sections are not for me, but maybe it will be for you. It gets my recommendation for the knowledge and care the author puts into the book.

The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People: How to Transform Feeling Overwhelmed and Frazzled to Empowered and Fulfilled is written by Mel Collins, who describes herself as a counsellor, spiritual healer, and reiki master, as well as a highly sensitive person (HSP).

The book begins with a description of the characteristics of HSPs.  The author explains that they process emotions on a deeper level than others, and tend to be highly empathic and intuitive.    They also have difficulty tolerating high levels of sensory stimulation.  She also says that HSPs are more intuitive.  The author writes that HSPs "are some of the strongest people I know and can be assets in any environment, personal or professional, if understood and respected for who they are."

There is a top ten list of challenges faced by HSPs, along with tips to help address them.  They include being empathic sponges, deep emotional sensitivity, and a feeling of not belonging.  The author also observes that HSPs appear to dissociate more easily.  They also tend to be susceptible to chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and digestive issues, which she says may "represent problems with HSPs 'digesting' other peoples' issues and processing them".  Whether or not that's true in a literal sense, it's an interesting idea.  There is also a helpful discussion of the masks that people may construct to hide their real selves, and explains how HSPs tend to identify with certain types of masks.

A number of strategies are laid out to boost self-love.  These would be useful to anyone, but the focus is on how they relate to HSPs.  There is also a chapter focused on strategies to keep from being over-stimulated and overwhelmed.  Some of these are fairly obvious, such as focusing on the breath and spending time in nature, while others are less mainstream, such as emotional freedom technique (also known as tapping), progesterone skin cream for females, and various vitamin, mineral, and herbal supplements.

There is a significant amount of non-mainstream alternative material in the book.  My biggest concern was statements that were presented as scientific fact without anything to back them up.  A few examples of things that struck me as dubious:

HSPs can be more sensitive to the effects of electromagnetic fields.
For HSPs working in stressful environments, "it has been scientifically proven that the challenges are amplified on so many levels due to increased brain activity in the areas that react to such stimuli."
In the chapter devoted to the Law of Attraction, thoughts are likened to magnets that "give off a vibrational frequency and will draw to us that of the same frequency".
The book recommends walking barefoot for the purpose of "earthing", which "allows electrons to flow between your body and the Earth and infuses the body with negatively charged ions, which the body needs.  Grounding or earthing in this way also discharges electromagnetic fields...  This was named the 'umbrella effect' by Nobel prizewinner, Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism."  Being the skeptical person that I am, I felt compelled to look this up, and it turns out no one except proponents of grounding seem to be talking about this umbrella effect attributed to a Nobel physicist.

I'll pause here for a brief detour.  Pseudo-science talk about "ions" annoys me, because I suspect that these people have never taken a chemistry class or looked at a periodic table of the elements.  We've all heard of electrolytes, and another term for electrolytes is ions.  Chloride (Cl-) and bicarbonate (HCO3-) are negatively charged ions and sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) are positively charged ions.  Both types are necessary, and normally our kidneys are rockstars at helping us keep them in balance.

The third section of the book is devoted to spiritual healing, which the author does acknowledge that not everyone will connect with.  It includes topics such as reincarnation of the souls, spirit guides and guardian angels, and the creation of blueprints for our next lifetime.  The author writes that "HSPs are often more aware of their spiritual helpers [guardian angels and spirit guides] than non-HSPs, mostly because they are sensitive to feeling subtle energies due to their high sensory processing sensitivity, but also because they are gifted with natural healing or psychic abilities."

The author writes about past life regression, and common unresolved past life issues for HSPs, including abandonment and guilt.  She also touches on "earthbound spirits", spirits of the dead that remained on earth and attached themselves to the living.  She suggests that HSPs can be vulnerable to having these earthbound souls attach to them, and recommends "energy protection" strategies and aura and chakra cleansing to avoid attracting these spirits.

The biggest positive about this book is that it encourages HSPs to recognize their strengths rather than look at themselves as flawed.  However, it isn't as broadly suitable as the title (The Handbook For Highly Sensitive People) would suggest.  The cover gives no indication of the heavy focus on alternative concepts, which is unfortunate because this can be potentially misleading to some readers but also fail to attract some of the potential readers who might be most interested in these topics.  For science-minded me this book wasn't a good fit, but I think it could be an interesting read for people who are interested in some of these non-mainstream ideas.

I suspect that for most people, this will be a marmite book. I say for most, because I'm not one of them - I simply cannot make up my mind!

To explain, this is one of the most incisive, fascinating and supportive books dealing with the issues which affect us HSPs. I absolutely love the first half, and found myself avidly reading it in a couple of sittings.

The part I'm not sure about? It then proceeds to explain in detail that you have come to be the person you are due to, for example, your past lives. It suggests you get in touch with your guardian angels and the universe to help you out.

So, there are plenty of mixed messages here:
- even if you're of the belief that prayer, past lives, angels, etc. are, for want of a better expression, real, it seems to me that this is placing your destiny in the control of something else, and seems to minimise the role of self-empowerment and self actualisation. In other words, it ignores messages such as take personal responsibility for your need to heal, find calm and your own behaviour.

- but if you're a rationalist, atheist or stoic who just happens to be HSP, then any useful messages or coping strategies become overwhelmed by what such people might consider to be the 'woo-woo' stuff.

Despite this, and in, short I can't give this less than five stars as I congratulate and love the author for daring to consider all bases - some rational, but mostly spiritual support systems. and it's written with such caring, well intentioned enthusiasm that anything less would be insulting.

Buy, read, take out of it the messages which work for you. There WILL be something helpful in here for you.

Disclaimer: I obtained my copy of The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People from NetGalley as a preview PDF ebook (which failed to display usably on my Kobo ereader; I read it using the Kindle app on iPad). I'm presuming the text won't change much between that and its final release.

First, be aware that this is not a citation- and study-laden analysis of the high-sensitivity trait, but more the author's life experiences in relation to her realization and sense of her own high sensitivity and a compilation of her strategies for navigating her world as an HSP. So if you're looking for a in-depth study of HSPness, this isn't it; try Elaine Aron's solid and accessible work. But if you're interested in one HSPs long-reflected perspective and "handbook" approach to life as an HSP, or even just a sympathetic validation that HSP is a thing and that it's Not Just You, this might work for you.

The first two chapters—basically Collins's introduction of herself and her perspective on HSP—desperately need extensive proofreading. I lost count of how many times I had to reread a sentence multiple times to tease out its likely meaning, or stumbled across odd word or grammar choices. Bits of this crop up as occasional reading speed-bumps throughout the book, although not nearly as much. Perhaps some of that will have smoothed out between my preview copy and the final.

OTOH, for anyone unsure after the first chapter or two, give Chapter 4 a chance. Collins's "Top Ten Challenges Faced by HSPs" may be her own unscientifically compiled observations, but they are well described and likely to resonate with any HSP, should serve as a fair description of HSP life to non-HSPs, and provide brief hints of where and how other parts of the book will relate to each challenge. This chapter may be the best sampler for toe-in-the-water gauging the value of book as a whole.

The next few chapters explore the types of roles that people, especially HSPs, tend to present in order to more safely interface with the world, six core human needs that tend to drive human behaviors and decisions, etc.

Section Two (Chapters 9-14) covers Collins's "self-help strategies" for HSPs. Her description of emotional filtering and processing is pretty good; not necessarily specific to HSPs, but may be experienced more commonly or deeply by HSPs than by others. And her coverage of strategies for coping with over-arousal include a wide range of options. Not everyone will necessarily buy into some of these options (such as acupressure "tapping" or chakra-based techniques), but think of it more as a menu of potential available tools than a single instruction guide, and it mostly works.

Section 3 (Chap 15-22) explores a more "spiritual" interpretation of HSPness, with connections to reincarnating souls and past lives and the like. This is where I started to skim more, as much of this I found difficult to swallow, especially as it presumes a lot of detailed "knowledge" about how divine structures supporting reincarnation work and feed into successive lives, a degree of trust in Divine Providence to place each of us into the lives that we need to learn and resolve and complete our soul selves, etc. If this doesn't interest you, the good news is that it's concentrated into the back third of the book where it can be skimmed or skipped without interfering much with the rest.

Overall, if you're looking for some life-perspective from an HSP and a broadly inclusive review of potential "handbook" strategies for navigating life as an HSP, this might fit that bill. Personally, I might suggest starting with some foundational understandings of HSPness itself from Elaine Aron's works before reading this for the added "handbook" perspective, but... that's me; even amongst HSPs, not everyone is the same.

I have read several books about HSP and the advice in this one matches up in some ways with my previous readings. The difference is that this one links HSP with some questionable spiritual beliefs--not so sure this is very practical for those looking to deal with this condition on a day to day basis. Being told that you may have a low level spirit attached to you that is draining your energy is probably not the best for people who deal with an a sensitive nervous system every day.

I found this book to be incredibly well-written and informative. The subject matter was approached with respect and some tenderness, yet was easy-to-read and even easier to implement. A definite recommend.

I was really excited about receiving this book and grateful to be able to ready ahead of publication. I'm an HSP and my biggest struggle is to cope with places that are too noises. Since my son was born my stress level has increased due to the fact that he cries a lot and has an extremely high pitch voice which at times make it so painful to try to console him and I had to wear earplugs.
This book has lots of good examples and coping strategies, the final part as other reviews have mentioned it more focus on spiritual practices that are interesting but possibly not everyone's cup of tea.

This book is ok until it gets off into the "new age" talk and discusses your chakras, aura etc. If you skip that entire section of the book, which to give it some credit, it says if you're not "open" to this kind of thing to skip that section, but a new age vibe is still woven throughout the book.

I always knew that I was sensitive and in tune to other people’s emotions. Reading this book was an AH-HA moment for me, as I could finally put a name to this character trait that runs my life. I am proud to say that I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) and this book has helped me see it as a gift, not a flaw. The first section of the book defines HSP, gives character traits, and explains the challenges we face. The second section details the impact that being an HSP can have in a persons life and in their relationships with others. The third section goes into strategies to help an HSP thrive in their life instead of merely surviving it. The fourth section is new age spiritual practices- not for me and the author disclosed at the beginning of the book that the reader is welcome to skip that portion if they aren’t into it. The author is a fellow HSP and works in a prison, giving the reader tried-and-true effective strategies for surviving the noise, chaos, and negativity that can have such a big impact on HSPs. While I work in a middle school, not a prison, these are hazards of the job and I’ve been struggling this year and feeling overwhelmed and frazzled. Over the last week I’ve been putting these strategies into play and have seen a marked improvement in my ability to function in a positive way and come home to my family without feeling the need to retreat or being overwhelmed and cranky by noise. If you, or someone you know, is an HSP then I highly recommend this book! For me, The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @watkinswisdom for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

A helpful, insightful and informative book. As a highly sensitive person myself, I found this to be a worthwhile read.

I wasn't a huge fan of the religious component toward the end, but otherwise I thought this was an insightful and interesting read. It shed light on why I act the way I do, and why I feel everything so deeply.

So interesting and informative. Both myself and 19 year old daughter are HSPs and this book gave great insight and support.

This book was very much a Tale of Two Cities, to me. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book very much. In fact, I thought it was great. It’s well written, insightful and contains practical suggestions for the highly sensitive person. The last one-third of this book sadly has little to offer me. Why? Because I personally do not believe in chakras, tapping and other “spiritual” topics of which the entire last one-third of the book is devoted to. I do appreciate the fact that the author devoted a section to the “new age” concepts and practices rather than mixing it in throughout the book. This format allows people like myself to fully engage in the first part of the book and provides for the more “new age-centered” to enjoy the book as well. Neither audience is ignored and this was clever on the author’s part, in my opinion. Thus, my four-star rating.

Are you often told to stop taking things to heart or to toughen up? Do you have a lot of empathy for others? Overanalyze things and get 'stuck in your own head'? Or become easily overwhelmed and frequently need to withdraw? If the answer is YES, you are probably a Highly Sensitive Person and this Handbook will be your survival guide!

When I first saw this book I thought to myself, "a book that was finally written about me!" I've always been a highly sensitive person and while reading I got to understand better what that meant. This had some great tips on how to cope with being sensitive and knowing I'm not the only one dealing with it, 1 in 5 people are born with HSP, or that I'm overreacting. It was a great book that I would recommend to anyone who has ever felt overly sensitive.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheHandbookForHighlySensitivePeople
Pub Date: 15 Jan 2019

I was very attracted to this book as it explains what is a HSP (highly sensitive person) and has strategies to help HSPs to survive and thrive on nowadays world. I was very excited to read and learn, but was a bit put off because the book, while being full of examples and such, seems very basic, and sometimes all the long explanations about different types of things made me lose interest on the lecture, as sometimes I felt there was more detail than warranted in those cases.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book about highly sensitive people. I have always considered myself to be extremely sensitive to things around me and people as well. I could feel things or experience things that others could not. Reading this book helped me appreciate my differences and how I can use it to relate better to others.