Being a highly sensitive teen in high school can feel like living in high definition—every emotion, interaction, and experience is magnified—and whether you consider it a blessing or a curse, it lets you connect with the world in a profound way.
On one hand, you appreciate beauty, creativity, and the little details in life that many overlook. On the other hand, high school can be overwhelming—social dynamics, academic pressures, and even seemingly small comments from others can hit harder than they would for someone less sensitive.
Sensitivity isn’t a weakness, though; it’s a strength. When nurtured properly in an environment where their unique talents are celebrated rather than stifled, highly sensitive teens can not only survive but thrive.
The book The Highly Sensitive Teen, by Dr. Lea Noring, is a helpful guide for teens who are highly sensitive.
Synopsis
A teen’s guide to surviving—and thriving—with high sensitivity in an insensitive world.
Does it ever feel like your emotions are more intense than other people’s? Are you bothered by loud noises, bright lights, or strong smells? Do you feel overwhelmed by crowds or the prospect of interacting with strangers? Do you sometimes feel paralyzed by fear of judgment, rejection, or criticism? Can you intuitively read how other people are feeling?
As a highly sensitive person (HSP) in your teens, you are inherently wired to be extremely aware of your environment—both mentally and physically. This can be a precious gift—but it’s also easy to feel overwhelmed when stimulation is coming from every direction. So, how can you quiet the noise, understand your unique brain, and use your gifts to enhance your life and reach your goals?
The Highly Sensitive Teen is a fun and engaging guide to staying grounded when life gets too loud. Reading this book, you’ll learn to better understand and cope with overstimulation and emotional overwhelm. You’ll find tons of tips for improving your self-esteem and strengthening self-compassion. And finally, you’ll discover effective communication strategies you can use to explain to others how you are different—and why it’s perfectly okay to be different!
When you’re caught in a storm of stimuli, it’s easy to become socially anxious and introverted. This book will give you just the boost you need to stand up for yourself and make your voice heard in any situation where you face a daily gauntlet of unavoidable challenges. Being highly sensitive in an increasingly insensitive world can feel like a losing battle. You need every tool at your disposal to successfully negotiate and navigate the endless array of sights, sounds, smells, and emotions that most people take in stride.
The Highly Sensitive Teen is a fun and engaging guide to staying grounded when life gets too loud. Let this book help you learn the skills and gather the tools you’ll need on your journey to self-discovery and a quieter, more fulfilling life.
Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. Are You Highly Sensitive?
- Chapter 2. Helping Your Family Understand
- Chapter 3. Coping at School
- Chapter 4. Helping Your Friends Understand
- Chapter 5. Standing Up for Yourself
- Chapter 6. Taking Care of Yourself
- Chapter 7. Getting Along with People You Find Difficult
- Chapter 8. Being Away from Home
- Chapter 9. Additional Types of High Sensitivity
- Chapter 10. Help with Difficult Days
- Chapter 11. Affirmations for Your Encouragement
- Online Resources
- References
Review
I like the full title of this book, as it puts a positive spin on your special traits. Sensitivity is a gift, but it’s also a challenge. The Highly Sensitive Teen book by Lea Noring, Ph.D., contains a wealth of insights that will empower readers to see their heightened perceptiveness as an asset in a world that can often seem overwhelming. In the introduction, the author admits that she was a sensitive person ever since she was a child. Thus, you know she can empathize with you because she understands how you feel – deep down for real, not just from an academic or therapist’s viewpoint.
The Highly Sensitive Teen book is specifically written with teens in mind. Its language, examples, and guidance focus on addressing the unique challenges and experiences that sensitive adolescents face on a day-to-day basis. It provides tips on coping with overstimulation, emotional overwhelm, and improving self-esteem. The book speaks directly to teens by validating their feelings, offering practical tips for managing sensory overload, and providing strategies to navigate their often intense emotional lives.
That said, parents will find themselves drawn to this book as well. While the core narrative is teen-centered, the guidance can be just as valuable for parents seeking to support and connect with their highly sensitive kids, because the insights are presented in a way that fosters genuine understanding of what their children might be going through.
Chances are if you’re reading this, you already know that you’re a highly sensitive person. But just in case you want to double check, the first chapter includes a “High Sensitivity Indicator Quiz” with 18 simple questions. If you score 95 points or higher, you are most likely highly sensitive. Yep, that’s me!
The book explores what it means to be a highly sensitive teen—delving into the unique way some adolescents experience the world. It explains that high sensitivity isn’t a flaw, but rather a neurobiological trait where one processes emotions and sensory input more deeply. In practical terms, this means that everyday situations can sometimes feel overwhelmingly intense, whether it’s in noisy social environments, stressful academic settings, or even moments of strong emotional highs and lows.
The Highly Sensitive Teen includes personal anecdotes, scientific explanations, and coping strategies aimed at helping sensitive teens understand themselves better. It offers tips and tools for managing overstimulation, such as mindfulness techniques, journaling, setting healthy boundaries, and self-care routines. In doing so, the book reassures teens that their sensitivity is both a challenge and a gift—one that can enhance creativity, empathy, and personal insight. The key is understanding your sensitivity and using it to your advantage.
In essence, even though the content in The Highly Sensitive Teen resonates primarily with the teen audience, its benefits extend to parents who wish to better understand and nurture their child’s sensitivity. I believe it also would be helpful for highly sensitive adults and highly sensitive children as well. If you sign up for a free account at NewHarbinger.com, you will be able to download additional tools to go with the book.
About the Author
Dr. Lea Noring is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northcentral University. She also holds a master’s degree in Family Sociology from Valdosta State University. She has been working with families and individuals for more than twenty years and specializes in ADHD, autism, AuDHD, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, OCD, and borderline personality disorder. She has also worked as a program director at an eating disorder clinic, as an ADHD coach, and as a special education advocate.
