What can I say about Jennifer’s coaching work? I can’t even begin to find the words.

As a profoundly gifted adult, I have found other consultants, counsellors and psychologists to be a poor fit for my rapidly evolving and fractally intense needs. Therefore, even though I actively sought mentoring for years, I never, ever, felt genuinely helped by any of the professionals I’d spoken to. I was always left sad and disappointed and just made do with what little I got. Most of the time, I would overwhelm them with the ways and means I’d already researched, applied and tackled. Many were the times I would prepare extensively for a session, going in with all my notes, hoping to tell them, “Well, here’s what I’ve done, so I was wondering if you have anything further to suggest?” and to receive a response along the lines of, “Oh okay, well if those haven’t worked as well as you desired, here’s what more you can do.” No. In fact, every time it’s either a blank face, an overwhelmed face, a bored face, or even a threatened face, and then complete change of subject or a reversion to patent basics, again and again. It was mutually frustrating and resource depleting.

With Jennifer, however, I realised that what I needed and craved all these decades was challenge. I needed a coach who could challenge me to push my comfort zones beyond what I was capable of on my own, without a professionally neutral third-party perspective. I needed a coach who was not only as driven as I am myself to constantly evolve, self-actualise and even self-transcend, but who also approaches those goals as a profoundly gifted person would. This made such a difference to my sense of self, identity and worth, when I realised that I wasn’t wrong all these years, I was simply working with the wrong people out of sheer ignorance.

Gifted people need gifted coaches. There is no two ways about it. We need a gifted coach who can not only match our speed, intensity and diversity but who is also trained and personally experienced with all the skills and toolsets required to achieve what we desire.

Jennifer is an extremely wise, compassionate and skillful coach who not only has the professional training and capacity but also a unique kindness and genuine curiosity that allows her to connect with her gifted clients as fellow human beings, and that is a quality is so rare to find in coaches and mentors these days. My sessions with Jennifer always leave me feeling seen and heard, appreciated and supported and most importantly of all, spiritually, psychologically and practically empowered to take the next right small step toward creating the life I desire and deserve as who I am.

Karin works with me in the form of an informal conversation in a safe atmosphere. She picks me up from where I’m in my actual developmental state. I feel encouraged to try new steps, gain other point of views – expansion of consciousness. I learned to realize and acknowledge that I’m really gifted. She helps me to develop my authentic self. I learn about myself, how I’m functioning, about healthy boundaries that help me, as an empathic, overexcitable person to be in the outer world, without self-betrayal. I feel answered, legitimized and alive. Thank you Karin for your loving support.

For the first few years after learning I was gifted, determining my level of giftedness seemed like something unnecessary to pursue. It was enough to know why I was different. But after talking to Jen, I discovered that identifying my level was actually a necessary key for unlocking the ways in which I mask my giftedness, not only from others, but also from myself. Thanks to Jen’s insights, I’m making meaningful progress in understanding my gifted needs and nature. If you’d like to move to the next level of connecting with your gifted self, I recommend Jen as an excellent guide!

Talking to Silver was crucial for me and still is, every time. I encounter a person who looks further into infinity than I ever knew when we talk. Silver really does that. She stands firm and—as she uses the word “intrepid”—really owns up to the name “Intrepid Integrity”. I am blown away. Views I held dear and that were actually doing me more harm than anything else, I could finally see as such : just thoughts. And that was the case only after ONE session. I thought about what she said ALL the time and still do. When there is a tough situation for me, I wonder, “What would I tell Silver and how would I tell her?” and the words arise naturally, as well as the attitude that I need. I meet a fellow human and a person I look up to whenever we connect and I take this opportunity again—here—to say, “Thank you Silver, for all you did for me, for all you do even when you are not around—in a sense you still are. Meeting you is a great gift to me and the help you provide allows me to fix up family members’ stories and therefore put back together a situation that is a big mess and was so for generations. Big, big issues are taken care of, which would otherwise be impossible to handle on my own. The world needs this contribution. I do. Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do.

I’m doing a formal coaching trajectory with Willem Kuipers around work-related issues. It’s fantastic! His (academic) knowledge of giftedness is enormous, which helps a lot in understanding myself in context, plus understanding the context itself better. Because of this specific knowledge Willem is able to exactly explain why things work the way they do, and that’s based on thorough research combined with the right kind of intuition. Besides this, he is a gentle and sensitive person who very carefully phrases his thoughts and suggestions. Willem has also developed practical tools about personal preferences and career parameters that are very helpful. His way of coaching has very little to do with the regular Human Resources approach, and is an adventurous journey into learning about all aspects of giftedness that are useful for you in your given situation. For me, it all really works very well.”

I have had two inspiring coaching sessions with Jen. I chose to be coached by her because of the click and her specific expertise. Being able to talk with someone with the same level and thinking speed as well as with the same humor, is important as a highly gifted individual. During the deep discussion we had about personality types, I felt understood, challenged and supported to take my possibilities to the next level. I got valuable information to help me understand how things work in my head, based on my personality type. Since talking with Jen, I understand better why I fare better in some situations than others, and where my focus should be. I am ready to explore different opportunities for myself work and study wise. Jen also helped me explore where my existential depression stems from and how to prevent or deal with it, when it arises again. Thank you Jen, for your great insights and support!

Sandra was a wonderful guide throughout my introduction to learning about my giftedness. Sandra and I clicked because she is also gifted and because I am finally experienced what’s known as “mirroring”. Genuine mirroring is crucial to a gifted person’s development and is rare. The mirroring I experienced with Sandra cannot be manufactured despite what many experts teach. Genuine mirroring is natural, reliable and authentic. Sandra taught me everyday guiding principles that were customized to me. Most frequently, I apply that I can slow down and stop any time I choose. I remind myself of this principle not only when I go into perfectionist mode, but also when others expect me to be perfect; to do and be it all. I also use it when I’m going down a new path and something doesn’t feel quite right or isn’t flowing. People have told me to slow down my whole life, but Sandra’s words were the first to hit home for me. She showed me that it’s my choice. Sandra helped me to realize that I have a tendency to “fill in” where I’m needed and wanted, which is a passive way of living life for others and not myself. I promptly resigned as President for an organization that no longer resonated with me. People have asked me if I was living the life I wanted, but Sandra’s words of “filling in” were the first to hit home for me. I believe that I can learn anything and that, in areas where I struggle, it would only require someone explaining it to me in a way that no one else had before. Sandra’s quick and simple explanations just click and have improved my life in a very short, painless, period of time. It has been a wonderful experience working with Sandra.

It is always a joy speaking with Jen. It is a form of syncing, speaking and thinking in tandem, profound and meaningful, in a way that might send us both into a wild laughing fit. At last, here is a conversation where communication feels crisp and clear, unmuddled and deconfused. And at the same time there is a fluidity to the whole. For once, I let my administrator role go, I forget who said what and when, and stop trying to manipulate the conversation. Complex becomes simple, when you speak with Jen.

Connecting with Karin was life-changing. It’s been great to hear that I’m not crazy and that most of the things that happen to me are shared by others. Finding my identity is sometimes confusing and pushes me to confront some things I’ve never confronted. It’s great to do this with someone supporting me, at my pace. I love the fact that Karin is just there when you need it, with a tailored coaching method, not pushing me with a pre-established way of working. Every time we finish a session I have a smile and I feel peaceful, back on track. It’s been a great process and I’m excited for what’s coming. If you are looking for a coach, I can’t recommend Karin enough.

Thank you InterGifted for providing such a unique and well suited coaching setup for your target audience. Being able to mix and match from the group of coaches has in itself been inspiring and has provided me with renewed hope and energy. I have been searching for an appropriate coach for quite some time and had never found someone that I felt would understand all of the aspects that I wanted to discuss. When Jennifer offered the opportunity to meet with more than one coach, the profound relief of finding a solution better suited to my needs washed over me and filled my soul. Such a fantastic program of ‘custom plans’ being created for the coaching process goes a long way towards instilling a sense of being understood and anchors in the feeling of finding a community wherein I can express myself freely. With appreciation and gratitude to Jennifer and all involved with InterGifted.

I was so relieved to discover that something like gifted coaching exists! I’ve had help from many other therapists and coaches over the years, with only partial results. Now for the first time in my life, I feel like someone understands me, and I’ve made more progress in two sessions than I had in all my years of therapy! Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for what you do. I was so confused about my identity, and learning about giftedness has been incredibly healing. I no longer feel alone and I have hope now, because I’ve figured out what I need help for and I know where it get it. This is such an amazing journey of self-discovery and recovery!

For quite a few years, I felt like a crazy, nervous wreck. There was an almost constant struggle with almost everything in my life. I saw therapists and counsellors and talked about my feelings and my childhood, and I learnt some useful tools. I knew, of course, that I was different. That I was extra everything. That I needed extra care, so to speak. I used to tell myself that I was too sensitive for my brain, or too intelligent for my sensitivity. I was definitely too much for most, including myself a lot of the time. Then I heard about HSP some five years ago and got a lot out of studying that. I started exercising and minding what I ate – that also really improved the general state of things. And then one day, in a conversation about bored children at school, a friend tipped me off about an organisation called “Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted.” That’s when I understood that giftedness is an actual thing; an actual research field. Going through the SENG website, I cried. Then I started reading everything I could get my hands on. And then, googling around about a year later, I found InterGifted and Jennifer Harvey Sallin.

Now, I think it’s wise to live as though you’re destined to do something very good. To strive to leave this world a little better than we found it – you know. I figured the time had come for me to step up and finally do something real. Took some shaky steps. Sure I can manage on my own, I thought. But the thing is, doing everything on your own isn’t the way to go. At some point in the coaching process, it felt a little remarkable to me that I hadn’t already done this work on my own. Studied Jung’s ‘cognitive functions,’ for instance. Or even just found out my personality type according to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. I guess that a part of this pretty wonderful and long overdue affair has, well, shown me how lonely I’ve been. I knew I could do a lot of things. And I have, and I do. The difference is, now I’m doing them with such grounded purpose. With more love, perhaps. It’s like I’m able to inhabit … my spot. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but the way I live my life has changed.