Highly Intuitive Kids
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
~Albert Einstein~
Ways to Support a Highly Intuitive Kid
Perceptive children call for perceptive parenting and guiding. Parents and caregivers can help keep intuition strong in children and ensure it is a lifelong gift, instead of a burden. Intuitive empathy is not really a choice in a child. It is an innate lens through which the child perceives life—and it deserves respect and support. As a parent and caregiver, you can help solidify this gift for life by adopting these supportive behaviors.
- Catherine Crawford, author of The Highly Intuitive Child: A Guide to Understanding and Parenting Unusually Sensitive and Empathic Children
As parents and caregivers there are three key factors in supporting the child's intuition and empathy.
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Give kids positive feedback for these abilities.
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Help them learn how to deal with associated stressors that can emerge from living with heightened intuitive abilities.
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Teach them real-life skills designed with their individual abilities in mind.
Ways we can do this is:
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Stay open to his or her perceptions without judgement.
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Try not to inflate or deflate his or her intuitive experience when we respond to it.
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Help her see that his or her way of feeling and seeing life is an important part of who he or she is—just like any other gift or talent.
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Realize that he or she may need your help in learning how to manage the stressors associated with this trait—the way in which he or she sees the world.
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Remember that these abilities are fundamental to the child’s natural intelligence.
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Let him know that he is never alone and you are available for him to problem-solve his intuitive and empathic stressors.
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If he or she has empathically “taken on” someone else’s mood, aches, pains, or worries, help him to practice asking, “Is this feeling mine?” and remind him that he’s not responsible for anyone else’s feelings.
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If a child is stuck in a pattern of being in tune with others pain or the pain of the world, help him learn to switch to being on the “self-channel.” You can do this with exercise, by encouraging him or her to express his feeling in art, or even by taking a couple of slow deep breaths with you.