Supporting the Highly Sensitive Child
Highly sensitive children experience the world more deeply, noticing subtleties others miss, but also feeling easily overwhelmed. Without the right support, sensitivity can look like anxiety, defiance or withdrawal.
Supporting the Highly Sensitive Child
📅 Tuesday Nov 18th
6.30-7.30pm
Lifetime Access to Recording Afterwards
Some children experience the world with extraordinary depth and sensitivity, not just in what they feel, but in how they take in sights, sounds, emotions and interactions.
These children may be highly aware, deeply reflective and finely tuned to their environment.
In classrooms, homes and playgrounds, they can show exceptional empathy, creativity and insight, yet they are also more vulnerable to overstimulation, emotional overwhelm and social or learning challenges. Research indicates that around 30% of children fall into the highly sensitive category, meaning there is likely at least one deeply feeling child in every classroom.
Sensitivity is not a disorder but a temperamental trait characterised by deeper processing of experiences, heightened reactivity to stimuli and greater emotional responsiveness.
Children who are highly sensitive may struggle in chaotic, noisy, highly stimulating environments and may react more strongly to changes in routine, complex social interactions or critique.
Who should attend?
- Parents and carers of children aged 2-12yrs who seem deeply feeling, easily overwhelmed or highly aware of their surroundings
- Primary school teachers. SNAs and SEN coordinators who want practical strategies to support sensitive children in the classroom
- Professionals working with families and children (e.g. social care workers, youth workers) who wish to deepen their understanding of high sensitivity and its impact on learning, behaviour and wellbeing
- If you support children who seem to feel everything more deeply, withdraw when overstimulated or display high levels of empathy or perfectionism, this webinar will give you evidence-based tools you can start using immediately
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this webinar participants will be able to:
- Identify the key characteristics of high sensitivity in children – including how it differs from typical reactivity, what it means for processing experiences and how it can manifest in the classroom or home setting.
- Recognise the ways in which a highly sensitive child’s emotional, sensory and social world can impact self-esteem, peer relationships, engagement in learning and emotional regulation.
- Apply evidence-based strategies to support these children to thrive – including adjusting environment and routines, building emotional regulation and coping skills, nurturing their strengths and helping them process overstimulation and change.
- Evaluate how to foster a calm, connected and inclusive environment (home or school) that respects and celebrates sensitivity, mitigates risk of overwhelm and builds resilience and confidence
Remember: being highly sensitive is not a weakness! When understood and supported, these children often become deeply compassionate, creative, resilient learners and individuals. With the right insights and strategies, you can help them flourish rather than just cope.
If you know a child in your family, classroom or setting who seems to feel everything deeply and often struggles with the bustle of everyday demands, make sure to book this webinar so you can be the adult who helps them feel seen, supported and empowered.
What you’ll receive
- CPD Certificate
- Copy of worksheets and summary slides
- Lifetime access to the recording and all materials
Your Instructor
Dr Lorraine Lynch is the Clinical Director of the Child Psychology Institute (CPI). She holds a Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology from London Metropolitan University (LMU) and is accredited by the HCPC and BPS. Her research thesis was based on the lived experience of children with Dyspraxia/Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) from the perspective of their parents. During her doctorate training, she completed placements in the private sector working on breastfeeding advocacy and support, and also within the NHS (Kidderminster Hospital, Birmingham) working on the promotion of digital health solutions. Dr Lorraine has won numerous awards within the social innovation and enterprise space, receiving a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland award in 2014, Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers Award in 2021 and Network Ireland 'Power Within Champion' Award in 2022. Dr Lorraine is also the author of two books designed to promote children’s wellness - #100happydays4kids and Closing Saor’s Day.
Her most important role is a mother to three smallies, who serve as a constant reminder of how much potential exists within each child.
“Even the tallest trees always begin as a seed.” A. J. Darkholme