HSP therapy · Online across California · Hermosa Beach · Pasadena
Highly Sensitive Person Therapy in California, for When You Notice Everything
You read the room before the meeting starts. You catch the typo, the change in tone, the thing nobody said. It makes you good at what you do, and by evening there's nothing left. We help you get your energy back first, then build work and a life that fit how you're wired.
Online anywhere in California, or in person in Hermosa Beach and Pasadena. 50-minute sessions, $180 to $500 depending on your therapist. We reply within one business day.
What does your sensitivity sound like?
Pick the one that's closest. We'll tell you how we'd start.
That's the most common thing sensitive professionals tell us. The same depth that makes your work good costs energy, and most workplaces aren't built for recovery. We start by finding where the drain is biggest and building recovery into the week, so you're not paying for Monday all weekend.
Next on this page: how HSP therapy works here
How HSP therapy works here
Your energy back first, then the patterns underneath, so sensitivity works for you instead of wearing you down.
- FirstGet your energy backMap where your energy goes and build recovery into your week.
- ThenLook at what's underneathOften it’s what you learned to do with it: please everyone, push through.
- Over timeMake it holdShape work and home around how you’re built.
Therapists who work with highly sensitive people
Your free consult matches you with the right person. Associates are trained and supervised by Lisa Chen and Clinical Director Bob Northcutt, both LMFTs.
Lisa Chen, LMFT
Hermosa Beach · Online
Lisa Newman, LMFT
Hermosa Beach · Online
Chandra Breslow
Hermosa Beach · Pasadena · Online
Laura Malandrino
Hermosa Beach · Online
Rebekah Richin
Hermosa Beach · Pasadena · Online
Payton Rund
Hermosa Beach · Online
Jessica Slavin, MS
Online only
Three-minute self-check
Am I a highly sensitive person? Map your sensitivity
Start the checkClose
Eighteen questions. You'll see your profile across the four parts of the trait, how much it's costing you right now, what each part means and what to try this week. Want the longer version? Take our free HSP quiz.
For education and reflection only. This isn't a diagnosis, a validated screening test or medical advice, and it doesn't make you a client of the practice. Your answers stay in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 or call 911.
Your sensitivity profile
of 36
How much it's costing you right now
of 12 ·
If you're feeling hopeless or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 now, or call 911.
Your shape
Your answers, each 0 to 96 of 9, where an aspect is strong
What your profile means
Your strongest areas are open below. Tap any other area to read about it.
Depth of processing · The D in DOES
What it is. You take in information and turn it over more thoroughly than most people. Elaine Aron's research treats this as the core of the trait.
Why it happens. Sensitive nervous systems compare what's happening now with past experience in more detail. Brain imaging studies have found more activity in areas tied to awareness and empathy in highly sensitive people. It's why your work is careful, and why decisions can take longer.
Try this week
- Give big decisions a deadline, and decide when it arrives.
- When a loop starts, write it down, then close the notebook.
- Ask for agendas or questions ahead of meetings so you can prepare.
How therapy helps. We help you tell useful reflection from rumination, and work with the part of you that needs to get every decision right, using Internal Family Systems.
Overstimulation · The O in DOES
What it is. When more comes in than your system can process, you get overloaded: tired, irritable, foggy or close to tears.
Why it happens. If you process everything more deeply, you fill up faster. Open offices, back-to-back calls, a loud house after work: it adds up, and pushing through usually makes the evening worse.
Try this week
- Put ten quiet minutes between meetings, even if it means ending them early.
- Lower the input where you can: headphones, softer light, fewer tabs open.
- Plan recovery after big days the way you'd plan recovery after a hard workout.
How therapy helps. We start with somatic tools that settle your body in the moment, then shape a schedule and workload that fit how much you take in.
Emotional intensity and empathy · The E in DOES
What it is. You feel things strongly, good and bad, and you pick up on what other people feel.
Why it happens. Research suggests sensitive people respond more to their surroundings in both directions: more affected by hard experiences, and also more helped by supportive ones. Empathy is a strength, but you can end up carrying moods that aren't yours.
Try this week
- When a feeling hits, ask whose it is. If it's someone else's, say so to yourself.
- Give hard feedback 24 hours before you decide what it means.
- Have one conversation a day where you're not looking after anyone.
How therapy helps. We work on boundaries without the guilt, and on the inner critic that picks up feedback and replays it. When old hurts still land hard, EMDR can help.
Noticing subtleties · The S in DOES
What it is. You catch details other people miss, like a tone of voice, a small change or a mistake on page nine.
Why it happens. It's part of how you're built, and it's useful at work: quality, reading clients, sensing a problem early. It gets costly when you can't switch it off, or when you feel responsible for everything you notice.
Try this week
- Pick one thing today you'll notice and let go of.
- Say what you're picking up instead of carrying it quietly.
- Control the small things you can: clothing, lighting, where you sit.
How therapy helps. We help you use it on purpose rather than all the time, and stop treating it as a flaw.
The cost right now · Overload
What it is. How much your sensitivity is costing you at the moment. The trait stays fairly stable over a lifetime. The load doesn't.
Why it happens. Overload usually means you're taking in more than you have time to recover from. Left long enough, it's when sensitivity starts to look like anxiety, low mood or burnout.
Try this week
- Protect one block of real quiet every day, even 20 minutes.
- Keep screens and news out of the last hour before bed.
- Say no to one thing this week that you'd normally say yes to.
How therapy helps. This is where we start: relief first. We also check whether anxiety, depression or burnout has come along with it, because those are treatable too.
Where to go from here
On your own
Try the steps for your top areas for two weeks and notice what changes. Our HSP reset kit and somatic exercises are good next reads.
With your doctor
If overload comes with poor sleep, constant worry, headaches or low mood, a checkup is worth it, and your doctor can talk with you about whether more support makes sense. Bring a copy of your results.
With a therapist
Book a free 20-minute consult with us, or reach out to any licensed therapist you trust. Look for someone who sees sensitivity as a trait to work with, not a flaw to fix.
This check uses everyday questions, not a clinical instrument or the published HSP Scale, and can't tell you whether you have a mental health condition. Only a licensed clinician can assess that.
50-minute sessions, $180 to $500 depending on your therapist. Your first 20-minute call is free, with no commitment. We're out of network. Superbills are provided through the client portal, and many employers' PPO plans reimburse a portion, so it's worth a call to your plan. More on fees and FAQs.
Book a free consultThe full guide
Lisa Chen & Associates Therapy offers highly sensitive person (HSP) therapy online anywhere in California and in person in Hermosa Beach and Pasadena. We work with sensitive professionals and high achievers who notice everything, perform well and crash afterward, helping them get their energy back first and then build work, boundaries and relationships that fit how they're wired, using somatic work, psychodynamic therapy, IFS and EMDR. Sessions are 50 minutes, cost $180 to $500, and start with a free 20-minute consultation.
What a highly sensitive person is, and what it isn't
Sensitivity isn't the problem. Running a sensitive system at someone else's pace is.
A highly sensitive person takes in more and processes it more deeply. Psychologists Elaine Aron and Arthur Aron first described the trait in 1997 and called it sensory processing sensitivity. It's a temperament, not a disorder, and it isn't something to cure. A 2018 study found people fall into roughly three groups: about 3 in 10 low in sensitivity, 4 in 10 in the middle and 3 in 10 high.
It isn't the same as being introverted, anxious or autistic, though it can travel with any of them. Plenty of sensitive people are outgoing, and plenty lead teams and companies. Read more in our guides to high sensitivity at work, HSPs and empaths and highly sensitive men.
Aron describes four parts of the trait, often shortened to DOES. Most sensitive people have all four, in different amounts.
- Depth of processingD
- You think things through thoroughly and notice connections. It's behind careful work, and behind decisions that take a while.
- OverstimulationO
- Because you take in more, you fill up faster. Noise, crowds and packed days wear you out sooner than the people around you.
- Emotional intensity and empathyE
- You feel things strongly and pick up on what others feel. Research suggests sensitive people respond more to both hard and supportive environments.
- Sensitivity to subtletiesS
- You notice small details: a tone, a pause, a change in the room. It's often what makes sensitive people so good with clients and colleagues.
When sensitive people are overloaded for long enough, it often shows up as anxiety, burnout or low mood. If you lead a team or a company, our page on therapy for high achievers and executives goes further.
"Most of the sensitive professionals I work with don't need to toughen up. They need a way of working that doesn't drain them, and permission to stop apologizing for how they're built."
Lisa Chen, LMFT, founder
How each step works
The goal isn't to make you less sensitive. It's to stop paying for it every day.
- First
Get your energy back
Early sessions are practical. We map where your energy goes, like the open office, the late call or the hour after the kids are in bed, and build recovery into your week. You'll learn somatic tools to settle an overstimulated body, and ways to say no without the guilt spiral.
- Then
Look at what's underneath
Sensitivity is rarely the whole story. Often it's what you learned to do with it: please everyone, push through, criticize yourself first. With psychodynamic therapy and Internal Family Systems we work with those patterns, and with EMDR when past experiences still hit hard.
- Over time
Make it hold
We shape work and home around how you're built: what to say yes to, how to recover after big days, and how to explain what you need to a partner, boss or team. When it helps, your partner can join for couples sessions.
How our approach compares
Most advice for sensitive people is either toughen up or protect yourself from everything. Here's what's different about working with us.
| What people often expect | How we work | |
|---|---|---|
| The focus | Grow a thicker skin | Sensitivity as a trait to work with, and what it's costing you |
| The method | Self-care lists and stress tips | Practical and somatic tools plus psychodynamic therapy, IFS and EMDR |
| Your sensitivity | Treated as the problem | Kept, protected and put to use |
| Your life | Treated as a personal issue | We look at how it plays out with your partner, kids and team |
| The cost | Found out on the first call | Published below, with superbills for your insurance |
Where we see highly sensitive clients
Online, anywhere in California · Hermosa Beach · Pasadena
Online, anywhere in California
Secure video from your own quiet room, from the Bay Area to Orange County, Sacramento to San Diego. Many sensitive clients find it easier to settle in at home.
Online therapy in California
Hermosa Beach
2615 Pacific Coast Hwy, Suite 326. Parking on site and an elevator. Close to Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo and Torrance.
In-person therapy in Hermosa Beach
Pasadena
150 S Los Robles Ave, Suite 850. Monday to Friday, with Chandra Breslow and colleagues. Call (626) 344-0475.
Therapy in PasadenaNearby: Manhattan Beach · Redondo Beach · Torrance · Pasadena
HSP therapy questions
Still deciding? A free 20-minute call is the easiest way to see if we're a fit.
Is being a highly sensitive person a diagnosis?
No. High sensitivity is a temperament trait, not a mental health condition, and it isn't in the DSM. Researchers call it sensory processing sensitivity, first described by Elaine Aron and Arthur Aron in 1997. Therapy helps when the trait comes with overwhelm, anxiety, low mood or strain at work and at home, which a therapist can assess.
What type of therapy is best for a highly sensitive person?
There's no single HSP therapy. What helps most is a therapist who treats sensitivity as a trait to work with, not a flaw to fix. We start with practical and somatic tools for overstimulation, then use psychodynamic therapy and Internal Family Systems for people-pleasing and the inner critic, and EMDR when past experiences still hit hard.
Is being highly sensitive the same as anxiety or autism?
No, though they can overlap and get confused. Anxiety centers on worry and fear. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects social communication and often includes sensory differences. High sensitivity is a trait centered on deep processing. A sensitive person can also have anxiety, ADHD or autism, and a therapist can help sort out which is which.
What do highly sensitive people struggle with?
Most often overstimulation, taking on other people's moods, hard feedback, saying no and recovering after busy days. In a demanding job that can look like doing great work and having nothing left by evening. Sensitive people also tend to respond strongly to supportive change, which is one reason the right support can make a real difference.
How can I support a partner who is highly sensitive?
Treat their need for quiet as recovery, not rejection. Agree on downtime after busy days, raise hard topics in a calm moment rather than in passing, and ask what they're noticing, since it's often useful. When the difference keeps turning into the same argument, couples therapy can help you both build a rhythm that works.
How much does HSP therapy cost?
Sessions are 50 minutes and cost $180 to $300 with an associate, $250 to $325 with a licensed therapist, and $425 to $500 with Lisa Chen, LMFT. Your first 20-minute consultation is free. We're out of network and provide superbills, and many employers' PPO plans reimburse a portion.
Do you offer HSP therapy online across California?
Yes. Many of our HSP clients meet online through secure video, from anywhere in California, including the Bay Area, Orange County, Sacramento and Ventura. Many sensitive people find it easier to settle in from their own quiet room. We also see clients in person in Hermosa Beach and Pasadena.
If you're in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or call 911.