Our Community

 

 

Since 2015, we have cultivated a dynamic online community of 900+ gifted adults around the world, where we explore questions and themes of giftedness integration, self-development and self-leadership together. Our members are conscientious, dedicated gifted adults who are actively learning about and applying their giftedness to their lives in creative and purposeful ways. In our community, you can meet other gifted adults who are invested in their personal and professional growth, and who are ready to connect with other equally dedicated and engaged gifted adults.

About our community culture

We meet on Facebook in a moderated secret group (learn more about this here), and group members also connect outside of our Facebook group for one-to-one and group connections. Our community is administrated by our director Jennifer Harvey Sallin. We've designed our community to be a positive, creative, inspiring and edifying space, and we moderate group interactions accordingly. You can ask questions and expect to get lots of helpful insight and feedback from our community members. You can also expect to make friends and find potential collaborators and other resources that will enrich your life even beyond the bounds of our group.

We have extended sub-groups, including a creatives' group, a business builders' group, and a group for highly to profoundly gifted people. These groups are open to our community members, once they've successfully integrated into our main community space. To learn more about how our community is structured and what our community culture is like, read our Frequently Asked Questions.

We also have a gifted mindfulness practice community for women via our Gifted Mindfulness Collective, which you can learn about here.

What our members say

Here are a few highlights of our members' experiences of being in our community, in their own words. You can read their extended feedback and hear from more members on our community testimonials page.

"The sense of community is unlike any other…it feels like home.

I come to InterGifted's peer group for recharging, insight, connection and inspiration. I particularly love the outpouring of genuine love and heartfelt, non-judgmental support and understanding extended to all who are struggling with some of the many difficult challenges associated with giftedness."

"Since joining InterGifted, I’ve discovered that it’s wonderful to connect when people get you, and when you can be your full self with them!

It took me a while to feel comfortable, but once I saw how open everyone is in this community, I felt safe to explore and express all that I’ve been keeping inside for a lifetime. I’m still surprised to see what a different person I’ve become thanks to simple friendships with other gifted people like me!"

"The InterGifted community has been a haven of support for me, and a continual source of inspiration.
Never before in my life was I able to find peers who understood me or encouraged me to keep growing beyond traditional societal expectations."
"If I could sum up my experience in Intergifted in one word, it would be: validation.
Validation of all the struggles I’ve had over the years, of how my gifted mind works and why it didn’t work well in the world I grew up in. That’s allowed me to discover how to create a world in which it does work well! It’s changed everything for me."
"What I really enjoy about InterGifted is the welcoming atmosphere and acceptance of all – internationally!
I love being able to hear similar ideas as well as different perspectives from not only the variety of individuals that are part of this group, but perhaps from the various experiences which can be part of different locations in the world. It feels like home."
"Finding InterGifted...has been an unexpected kind of homecoming.
To be able to talk about my own giftedness openly and without apology has brought about a whole new level of awareness...I feel like, in this secret world, I am invited to grow more fully into all that I am meant to be."
"Intergifted is one of the best things that ever happened to me."

How to know if you're ready to join us

You'll know you are ready to join us if you feel excited to learn more about yourself and your gifted mind amongst gifted peers, and feel ready to apply that knowledge to your personal development and self-leadership process. Conversely, if you feel resistant to or scared about the idea of being gifted, or even feel angry about the concept for any reason, it is not the right time to take this step on your journey. Furthermore, if you are struggling with issues related to social safety, depression, or other overwhelming negative emotions, you may need to work toward feeling safe and in a constructive space before joining us. If that's the case, we recommend seeking a gifted-specific therapist to support you where you are right now.

If you're not sure you're gifted, we suggest you start by reading more about what it is. A good place to begin is our article What is Giftedness?, which also provides links for additional exploration. We also welcome you to schedule a qualitative assessment with us if you'd like to explore your potential giftedness and learn about your unique intelligence profile.

How to join

We charge a one-time entry fee of 125 Swiss Francs to cover our administration costs and to support the continuation of our community.

You can send your entry fee to our Paypal link with a note that your payment is for our InterGifted Community. Once we receive your payment, you'll receive a welcome email, invitation to our Facebook group, and community guide, from our director Jennifer Harvey Sallin (typically within three business days). If your email address is different than the one on your Paypal account, please send us a note at connect@intergifted.com so that we know where to send your invitation.

We are also able to take payments via bank transfer in Europe and Twint in Switzerland. Please contact us at connect@intergifted.com for that option.

If you have further questions or trouble receiving your group invitation, see our Frequently Asked Questions. If you don't find the answer to your question/problem there, you can email us at connect@intergifted.com.

More from our members…

“The InterGifted community has been a haven of support for me”

The InterGifted community has been a haven of support for me, and a continual source of inspiration. Never before in my life was I able to find peers who understood me or encouraged me to keep growing beyond traditional societal expectations. Thank you for this wonderful community!

L.M. - France

“I have felt more real connection and community within InterGifted than I have in all the years prior”

I’m 31 and have felt more real connection and community within InterGifted in the last six months than I have in all the years prior. I begin to “feel” human, rather than my previous sense of self – an object that existed for other people’s purposes. I find myself bursting with unreserved love and gratitude as a result of this connection. I am far more alive than I have ever been.

Karin - Germany

“It feels like coming home – to a home you never really believed existed”

I found InterGifted on the day I discovered that I might be gifted in some way. I threw caution to the winds and signed up for the InterGifted Newsletter and  joined the InterGifted Facebook Group immediately, in spite of my fear of not being truly gifted and it being obvious to people who were that I wasn’t. The InterGifted community is incredibly welcoming, non-judgmental and supportive. I felt right at home as a “different” thinker – and felt validated at every turn. In spite of my fears, the subject of whether I’m really gifted – or gifted enough to belong to the community – has never even come up. It is a non-issue. Everyone is totally accepting of everyone else’s views, perspectives and experiences: if you identify with thinking differently or being different and feeling inadequate or being criticised because of it, you belong. It feels like coming home – to a home you never really believed existed. The InterGifted coaches lead the way – with Jen riding point, setting the tone and disarming fear by being truly open, vulnerable, authentic and empathic. I encourage you to take the plunge: it will change your life!

Gary - New Zealand

Fabienne - Switzerland

“InterGifted helps to remind those struggling with just how special they are to know they’re extra special”

I am so happy to have found InterGifted. It has unlocked a lot of things for me; most of what I need to deal with, but also a renewed passion to explore topics I’ve touched on such as taking a different view on personality styles that is seen from a gifted perspective. You provide such a great platform which incorporates all of its members. I’ve been like the Lochness monster submerged for many years and suddenly resurfaced, realizing just what opportunities and info gathering I missed. Thanks for this great initiative, and being supportive and a mine of information. InterGifted helps to remind those struggling with just how special they are to know they’re extra special. That’s what it did for me.

Erika - South Africa

“I feel such profound gratitude for having become part of this group”

I feel such profound gratitude for having become part of this group that is exactly like another member worded: like an overdue family reunion. I broke contact with the larger part of my family of origin, and have all life felt so in need of kindness and support and the gentle softness in which I could spread my wings, not just be a one-way adviser, one-way conveyer of love and knowledge and for some the sacrificial lamb. Having deeply meaningful conversations here or by other means with members of InterGifted fills my heart with such joy. I can finally let go of all the shame over not finding what I needed, not even daring to admit how much I need and how little I found outside myself. It really hit me when reading Jennifer’s article on high+ giftedness: the always sooner or (very rarely) later being confronted with the limited mutual interest, understanding, intensity span or any other mutual field of anything meaningful I’d be looking for in others. Jennifer describes it so accurately as “just getting started” and the other just wanting to get out of the intense contact. There wasn’t very much reason for celebration of life before, even if I kept lighting my candle for me vigourously and in spite of what I saw in the world outside me. I’d like to give you all in InterGifted a thank you hug for being who you are and sharing that with me, and making me be more and more OK with who I am.

Charissa - The Netherlands

“If I could sum up my experience in InterGifted in one word, it would be: validation”

If I could sum up my experience in InterGifted in one word, it would be: validation. Validation of all the struggles I’ve had over the years, of how my gifted mind works and why it didn’t work well in the world I grew up in. That’s allowed me to discover how to create a world in which it does work well! It’s changed everything for me.

A.M. - Germany

“Finding InterGifted members has been an unexpected kind of homecoming”

I’ve been involved in gifted education for over 20 years. As a personal passion and to facilitate my work with gifted students, I’ve done extensive personal reading and studying about the social-emotional aspect of gifted. Still, finding InterGifted and interacting with the leaders and members has been an unexpected kind of homecoming. To be able to talk about my own giftedness openly and without apology has brought about a whole new level of awareness. Because I can mention something I’m observing or experiencing or puzzling over to the group and be pretty much guaranteed that someone will relate to or support me, I find myself actually feeling and experiencing things more deeply. I think this is the result of not having to distill things down to language or experience that everyone will understand with the typical alternative of simply keeping it to myself. On a daily basis I am probed by members to ponder a question or idea that is new or from a perspective not yet considered. I feel like, in this secret world, I am invited to grow more fully into all that I am meant to be.

Kim - USA

“Focusing on my differences has lead to self understanding”

InterGifted has been great for me because it has allowed me to cope with the fact that the vast majority of humans are not my community. A lot of us here have a different relationship to ‘people in general’ than normal folks, and the farther you are on the graph the more that is the case. I can understand them, and relate on a basic human level, but it’s not reciprocal and I enjoy deeper relation than that. I connect to humanity more than to people and a lot of us are that way. Attempting to focus on my similarities with others has often lead to confusion and anxiety, because the differences have had far more of an impact on my life than the similarities. Focusing on my differences has lead to self understanding and releasing the need for non-gifted people to understand and accept me. I’m not searching for what I have in common with everyone anymore; I’m searching for the people I don’t have to try so hard with. I love humanity deeply but do not have a strong underlying sense of community as a whole, and moving away from desiring one is what has been (finally) saving me from the pain of giftedness.

Coral - USA

“It has helped me accept myself and better my relationships”

InterGifted is the best resource I’ve found for understanding adult giftedness. I have benefited so much from the blog, the group discussions, and the general atmosphere of down-to-earth smart people. It has helped me accept myself and better my relationships.

Bill - South Africa

“The friendships I have made have been some of the first true friendships of my entire life”

The friendships I have made via the InterGifted community have been some of the first true friendships of my entire life. I had gotten used to keeping myself small and tame, quiet and introverted, even with people I considered my close friends. I used to think of myself as a total introvert. Since joining InterGifted, I’ve discovered that it’s wonderful to connect when people get you, and when you can be your full self with them! It took me a while to feel comfortable, but once I saw how open everyone is in this community, I felt safe to explore and express all that I’ve been keeping inside for a lifetime. I’m still surprised to see what a different person I’ve become thanks to simple friendships with other gifted people like me!

G.M. - Germany

“InterGifted has helped me to realise that there are others like me out there”

As well as boosting my self-esteem immeasurably, InterGifted has helped me to realise that there are others like me out there, and that I should perhaps now go out to meet them rather than wallowing independently in my (and our) unfortunate statistical rarity.

J.B.Q. - UK

“I now see who I am and who I want to become”

Words cannot say how InterGifted has changed my life! Since discovering my giftedness six months ago, Jen and InterGifted have helped me to understand what’s been going on in my mind all these years. I finally feel a surge of hope when I think about my uniqueness, as opposed to the sadness and loneliness that it used to trigger in me. Interacting with the peer community here and receiving coaching has helped me to translate what is true about me into what is beautiful about me. Instead of spending the second half of my life feeling as lost as I have for the first half, I now see who I am and who I want to become, and for the first time, I have begun to enjoy the journey.

W.K. - US

“InterGifted’s community for me has been a portal to deeply meaningful friendships and collaborations”

I’m so proud of this community I’ve formed. It is full of kind, caring, passionate, unique and fascinating people from all over the world. There is never a lack of inspiration, support, and creativity in this group. I had never been interested in belonging to groups before I formed InterGifted. Now even I love to check Facebook and participate in discussions – something I thought I’d never do! It’s because of the quality of the members and the depth of their minds and hearts. No less important is that InterGifted’s community for me has been a portal to deeply meaningful friendships and collaborations, something I too thought might have not been meant for me.

Jen - Switzerland

“It’s a comfort to connect with others who understand”

Thank you for creating such a great website full of helpful resources for gifted adults, and especially for hosting communities for like-minded people to interact. A gifted mind can be both a great blessing and an isolating curse, and it’s a comfort to connect with others who understand.

J. - USA