Talent hits a target no one else can hit;
Genius hits a target no one else can see. Schopenhauer
Photo: Nicole Meldahl
“Not only are gifted & creative adults misperceived, misdiagnosed, and misunderstood by others, they also misunderstand, misperceive, and misdiagnose themselves, too.”
“Lynne, you are the first person who ever talked openly to me about the unique problems of being very smart.”
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
Email Lynne or call 310-828-7121 to have a conversation about her gifted adult services.
“Working from a strengths orientation means that every effort is designed to help to discover and embellish, explore and exploit or leverage the gifted person’s strengths and resources in the service of assisting them to achieve their goals, realize their dreams, and to shed the bindings of their own inhibitions and misgivings.”
“A gifted individual is a quick and clever thinker, who is able to deal with complex matters. Autonomous, curious and passionate. A sensitive and emotionally rich person, living intensely. He or she enjoys being creative.”
Are You A Gifted Adult?
Live the Life You Were Meant to Enjoy
Develop Yourself and Your Potential
Gifted & Creative Adults = So Many Talents, Interests & Possibilities
It Takes a Gifted Adult to Know & Encourage One
As a professional who works exclusively with gifted, talented and creative people, I know something about the particular challenges gifted, talented & creative people experience at home, work and in relationships.
Maybe you do, too.
Gifted Adults & Their Challenges
For more than a decade I've been working with gifted and creative adults, teens and children as a psychotherapist, counselor, coach, speaker, trainer, educator, consultant, and mentor specializing in the challenges, psychology and development of gifted, talented and creative adults.
In my experience, the challenges that multi-talented adults face--are not perceived, understood or appreciated by most educators, parents, business leaders, therapists, life & executive coaches, and other assorted professionals-- because they lack information and understanding about giftedness and gifted adult development.
Gifted adults need coaches, therapists and mentors who can help them understand
what giftedness is and what it is not
how gifted, talented & creative adults think & feel
what gifted and creative people need
what gifted and creative people don't need
the challenges gifted adults face
what 2e gifted, twice exceptional giftedness is
the challenges and stresses gifted people face
the type of support and encouragement gifted, talented & creative individuals need for success, happiness and career satisfaction
how to find work or a career they love that supports them financially
the work and career challenges gifted people face including boredom, jealousy, sabotage, being overworked and underpaid
how to set up a gifted life that is authentic, satisfying and creative
the solutions that work to help gifted adults realize their potential, gain happiness and live fulfilling lives
Interacting & Working with 'multi-gifted' adults requires specialized knowledge, training and skills.
Helping gifted, talented, and creative adults understand themselves, their gifts, and to live life more fully is my passion.
Helping people understand and appreciate gifted, talented, and creative adults is my mission.
There's nothing better than helping gifted, talented, and creative people amplify their personal, professional and creative happiness, effectiveness, and accomplishments.
Contact Lynne About Her Services for Gifted Adults
Not only are gifted and creative adults misunderstood, misperceived, and misdiagnosed by others, they also misunderstand, misperceive, and misdiagnose themselves, too.
Understanding & Appreciating Adult Giftedness
Overall I've found that gifted adults take their multiple talents and abilities for granted--and mistakenly label their everyday successes and achievements as "hard work" or "something anybody could do"--not a result of their own unique view, giftedness, and talents applied.
Helping each gifted adult become more aware of the role giftedness plays in their lives--and how they can utilize their multiple talents, interests & abilities to create, and live fully, the life they imagine--is the best work I could possibly do.
When gifted adults clearly understand, value, and appreciate the way their mind, imagination, and resources work, they have a greater appreciation for who they are, what they do, and how they do it–and they lead better, happier, more fulfilled lives. They also enjoy themselves much more while they are making their contributions in the world.
That’s my experience with gifted, talented, and creative adults.
Effective Tools for Gifted People
As a result of my work with adult giftedness, I've developed many effective and useful tools and models for working with gifted people of all ages.
People who describe themselves as "gifted" often face special challenges when choosing, changing and managing their careers. Cathy Goodwin
You will find many of these tools, as well as the articles, books and resources I use with coaching and psychotherapy clients, on this site.
Be sure to check out the articles and links at the bottom of each page as well as the book sections.
Here are many of the books I recommend to my gifted adult clients.
You may notice that some of the articles on this site have information on gifted children.
This is not a mistake.
Much of the information written about gifted children growing up applies equally to the gifted adult.
Reading about giftedness in children allows adults to accurately identify themselves as gifted and helps them sort out and make sense of many of the experiences they encountered as children; this has a healing and liberating effect.
If you have found your way here you are either a gifted, talented and creative adult or someone who knows or lives with a gifted person.
Enjoy the site. I welcome your comments and suggestions.
Lynne Azpeitia, MFT
The Gifted Adult Coach
310-828-7121
3025 Olympic Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404
Encouraging, supporting and guiding gifted adults to achieve their goals and realize their dreams.
Coaching, Counseling, Psychotherapy & Consultation Specially Designed for Gifted People
Have a question? Need some information? To schedule a session or have a free phone consultation, Email Lynne about her Gifted Adult Services or Call Lynne at 310-828-7121.
PHONE OR VIDEO SESSIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THOSE NOT IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA.
Colorado Dabrowski Conference: Gifted, Talented & Creative Adults.
Lynne Azpeitia is the brunette in the black boots. Also in the photo, Andy Mahoney, Michael Piechowski, Bill Tiller, Linda Silverman and many more experts on Gifted, Talented & Creative People
To get a sense of the Lynne Azpeitia's Gifted & Creative Adult Coaching, take a look at her article Successful Coaching and Psychotherapy with Multi-Talented Gifted and Creative Adults
“Most gifted adults have never been identified as such. Many mistake their different ways of experiencing the world as signs of immaturity or character flaws. Some even misinterpret their panoramic mental processes and intensities as craziness.”
Lynne Azpeitia
The Gifted Adult Therapist & Coach
310-828-7121
PHONE & VIDEO SESSIONS AVAILABLE
LOCAL
NATIONAL
&
INTERNATIONAL
SERVICES
“Because most people lack basic information and understanding about what giftedness is, gifted, talented and creative people of all ages are largely misperceived, misunderstood, and mislabeled.”
To schedule a session, begin coaching or arrange a free phone consultation Email Lynne or call her at 310-828-7121
Their own longer deeper search for meaningfulness is the extra mile the gifted have to travel. John Gowan
“Gifted people are capable of providing a unique & significant contribution to innovation in organisations. This requires that the organisation recognises, acknowledges and values the talents of the gifted. And it demands that the gifted employees demonstrate their high degree of intelligence and present their talents in a practically applicable manner.”
“The uniqueness of the gifted requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally.”
Giftedness: The View From Within
Martha J. Morelock
Sommers (1981) links the breadth of emotional responsiveness to cognitive complexity. She introduced the concept of "emotional range" to denote the number and variety of emotions experienced by an individual. Sommers found that college students evidencing advanced cognitive organization had a wider "emotional range”. She concludes: The picture of the more emotional person, as it is emerging from this research ... reveals that a high level of emotional responsiveness may be associated with advanced cognitive organization. All of the cognitive skills that were found to be related to the ability to respond with more emotions are marks of a highly organized awareness - an awareness that might be governed by a well-structured system of values, oughts, and beliefs, but not by momentary excitements. (p. 560) Thus, we have the beginnings of internal view of giftedness. The heightened and broadened emotionality of the gifted, the role played by a well-structured system of values in evoking emotional reactions, and the asynchronicity of development leads.....More
5 Definitions of Giftedness
Jennifer Kennedy
You are told your child is gifted, but what does that really mean? There are many definitions of giftedness. None are universally agreed upon, but many share certain defining characteristics. Here are a few:
1. Some definitions address the “asynchronous development” found in gifted kids. One such definition comes from the Columbus Group (1991):
“Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally.”
This is the definition we use at IEA.
2. Through the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act – part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – the federal government currently defines gifted students as:
“Students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.”
3. In Gifted Children: Myths and Realities, Ellen Winner defines giftedness with these three atypical characteristics:
Precocity – “They begin to take the first steps in the mastery of some domain at an earlier-than-average age. They also make more rapid progress in this domain than do ordinary children, because learning in the domain comes easily to them.”
An insistence on marching to their own drummer – “Gifted children not only learn faster than average or even bright children but also learn in a quantitatively different way.”
A rage to master – “Gifted children are intrinsically motivated to make sense of the domain in which they show precocity.” More…
Imagine a World Where Gifted Kids Don’t Have to Wait
Paula Prober
It all started in first grade when you eagerly finished the entire workbook in one night. You thought your teacher would be pleased. She was not pleased. You were told to sit and color the pictures and WAIT until the other first graders caught up with you.....When you scored in the 99th percentile in reading and math and could easily work two years above grade level, it was decided that you shouldn’t skip a grade. You needed to WAIT until you were more emotionally and socially mature, even though you were capable of contributing confidently to discussions with your parents’ friends. You wanted to know about death and God. You were told to WAIT until you were a grownup because you wouldn’t understand. You’re still waiting.
In his book, The Boy Who Played With Fusion, Tom Clynes wrote: “Waiting was the most common response when Tracy Cross of the college of William and Mary asked thirteen thousand kids in seven states to describe in one word their experience as gifted children.” More...
Understanding and Encouraging the Exceptionally Gifted
Bruce Kline & Elizabeth Meckstroth
Emotional and social diversity are as clearly manifest in gifted persons as is intellectual exceptionality. In this regard, we recognize three gradients within the gifted range: gifted, from 130-145 IQ; highly gifted, 140-160 IQ; and exceptionally gifted, above 160 IQ. Parents of highly and exceptionally gifted persons have found it useful to retain a family psychologist or counselor to develop relationships in a preventive function.
In this article, five facets of critical development are highlighted: (a) interpersonal relationships; (b) acknowledgement of uniqueness; (c) school adjustment; (d) creative self-expressions; and (e) user-friendly environment. In each area, several interventive strategies are suggested......In understanding this population, gradients of abilities become apparent. Gradients in abilities, sensitivity, intensity, talent, and creativity within the gifted range must be recognized just as we acknowledge and program for graduations of ability below the norm.....More
Small Poppies: Highly gifted Children in the Early Years
Miraca Gross
Highly gifted children are frequently placed at risk in the early years of school through misidentification, inappropriate grade-placement and a seriously inadequate curriculum. Additional factors are their own early awareness, that they differ from their age-peers, and their consequent attempts to conceal their ability for peer acceptance. Teachers who have had no training or inservice in gifted education, and who are reluctant to use standardized tests of ability and achievement, may rely only on gifted behaviors to identify extremely high abilities in young children. This may compound the problem by ignoring early indicators of demotivation and underachievement. The very early development of speech, movement and reading in many highly gifted young children serves as a powerful predictor of unusually high intellectual ability. Parents of the highly gifted become aware of their children's developmental differences at an early age; yet parent nomination is under-utilized by primary and elementary schools, and information provided by parents regarding early literacy and numeracy in their children is often disregarded or actively disbelieved. More
When Giftedness Becomes A Burden
Celi Trepanier
When does giftedness, a perceived intellectual advantage with a guaranteed path to lifelong success, become a burden?
When giftedness is not recognized as a human trait, but is regarded as a prodigious intellectual benefit, it can become a burden. When giftedness is tied to and measured by academic achievement, then giftedness is misunderstood. When the expectation of a gifted person is that of academic and professional success, then giftedness can cause anxiety and distress. Giftedness is a life experience, not an educational experience. Giftedness is not what one can achieve, but who one is.
Giftedness does not make one better than others any more than having an extraordinary singing voice, or the ability to write bestselling novels makes one better. More…
25 Signs Your Gifted Child Is Misunderstood At School
Gail Post
Most of us have been through it. That sinking feeling when your gifted child becomes bored, unmotivated or miserable in school. That uncertainty over how much to intervene, when to advocate, and whether to approach the school or risk alienating teachers when you ask for something more.
This is not meant as a rant against teachers. They have a demanding and often thankless job. I have worked with many children who have received a remarkable education. And my own kids were fortunate to have crossed paths with many wonderful teachers throughout their school years.
And yet...
There are some teachers who don't understand giftedness, do not have the time or energy to address these students' needs, or refuse to provide gifted services as a result of school policy, pressure from other parents, misconceptions, lack of training, or misguided opinions unsupported by actual evidence or research.
Below are 25 signs your gifted child is misunderstood at school. These are evident when your child is...
1. expected to succeed just because she is gifted, without requiring additional instruction or resources beyond what is taught in the regular classroom
2. perceived as demanding just because he is curious, questions rules, and has strong opinions More…
Exceptionally Gifted Children
Miraca Gross
Gagne identifies a cluster of personalogical and environmental variables that serve as catalysts to either facilitate or impede the translation of giftedness into talent. Crucial to the process of ‘talent development’ is the quality of the child’s learning. Impacting on this process, however, are personality factors in the child herself. Motivation, while not a ‘necessary ingredient’ of giftedness as in the Renzulli model is essential if the child is to develop as talented. She must have the motivation to get started, the dedication to apply herself, and the will to persevere when the going gets rough. She must have the confidence in her abilities and she must accept and value her own gifts......More
Hoagie's Gifted Education Page
The premier resource for gifted information put together by Carolyn K. A treasure trove of information and resources for gifted people of all ages. You'll want to bookmark this site.
Creative Leadership Is Gardening, Not Architecture
Michael Hendrix
In 1975, musician Brian Eno and painter Peter Schmidt created a deck of cards called “Oblique Strategies” to break through writer’s block in the studio. Their idea was to collect phrases that would return them to an artistic state of mind when they found themselves struggling under pressure. The cards provided inspirational words of wisdom such as, “Honour thy error as a hidden intention,” or “Work at a different speed," or “Gardening, not architecture.” The latter is a personal favorite, and here’s why. More...
Managing the Blessing & Burden of Being A Gifted, Talented & Creative Adult
Lynne Azpeitia
"Sometimes when you climb a mountain, the oxygen is a little thin.”
Being a Gifted, Talented, and/or Creative adult can be a challenge. There are so many things that you want to do (and are capable of doing) that it can be overwhelming to figure out what to focus on first…
And there’s also the trouble of dealing with people who are jealous and don’t really understand you, which can lead to even more challenges in relationships or at the workplace. If this is you and you’ve been going through a season of struggle, support is on the way. There are healers who have trained their entire careers to be there for you when times get tough. Our guest today is one of them. Lynne Azpeitia joins us to talk about how to create a focused, balanced, and goal-oriented daily routine that puts Self-Appreciation at the forefront, and is created with your unique needs in mind. Join us for some love, laughs, and “ah-ha” moments as we explore how you can "Manage the Blessing and Burden of Being a Gifted, Talented, and/or Creative Adult". More…
How Renaissance People Think
Barry Scott Kauffman
Do you think like a polymath? Here’s a quick test: Are you more of a rational or intuitive thinker? If you cringed as you read the question and thought to yourself “I love constantly shifting between both modes of thought,” then you’re on the polymath path. More...