Brief Therapy Focused on Giftedness – BTFG*

*Vasso Androutsou1, Georgia Nika 2, Vassiliki Fotopoulou 3, Maria Kashtanova4

1 Systemic Counselor, 2 Psychiatrist, 3 Social Worker – Systemic Counselor, 4 Schoolteacher
1,2,3,4Hellenic Association of Parents of Gifted Children, Greece
e-mail: vandrout@yahoo.gr

Giftedness: neither a disorder nor a label, just identity.

It is necessary for gifted individuals to be encouraged, it is necessary for them to face
challenges and to be inspired, so that they realize who they really are, realize their potential,
and find their identity.

Gifted individuals have unusual mental, perceptual and intellectual capacities that make their lives
very complicated. They often face endogenous and exogenous conflicts, and when they find
themselves facing against school requirements, family and friends, social relationships and
challenges in the workplace, their development may be blocked, their exceptional traits can change
into difficulties and they may suffer from anxiety, depression, relation problems, or other serious
psychiatric problems they may not realize are related to their giftedness.

While a gifted person -whether recognized, never identified, or misdiagnosed-, goes through the
developmental stages, they inevitably seek a clearer sense of identity, integration and purpose in life.

The therapists have a unique opportunity to provide the gifted person with all the information about
the traits and characteristics that giftedness is composed of, what it really means, and what happens
in the life cycle of a gifted individual, and through the process of a brief intervention, the therapist
may propose  methods and techniques for exploration and (re-)union with their true gifted self.
Gifted adults and parents of gifted children and teens may need professional guidance, counseling
and/or therapy in managing the challenges that come with giftedness.

Gifted individuals experience life in ways that are qualitatively different from the norm. Their
advanced creative, perceptual and intellectual capacities and their sensitivities often give rise to
emotional depth and intensity (Peterson and Moon, 2008). They not only think differently but also feel
differently than others do. But, in a society that values “sameness,” gifted people might not feel that
their curiosity, nonconformity, sensitivity, perfectionism, and their need for justice and meaning is
understood. As a result, gifted individuals may doubt themselves and question their true nature:
What is wrong with me? Why can’t I be like everybody else? Why don’t I feel happy? How can I be
accepted? Will I ever feel normal”? (Yermish, 2010).

Gifted individuals live for years –often for their entire life- under dysfunctional frames, and are forced
to deny their giftedness, suppress their natural talents and needs for expression of creativity and
intellectual potentials, and “sacrifice” their real nature in order to be accepted by others  (Ανδρούτσου,
κ.ά., 2015).

Frequently, the certain traits that make someone gifted are the ones that others want the person to
suppress or to give up. Certain gifted traits are often mistaken for learning disabilities, ADHD,
immaturity, autism or Asperger syndrome, emotional/mood disorder or behavior problems
(Androutsou et al, 2015). The results may be constant feelings of frustration, lack of fulfilment,
loneliness, resentment, low self-esteem, anxiety, and/or depression, relationship problems or other
serious psychiatric problems. (Amend and Peters, 2012).

Counseling that is specifically designed for gifted adults, teens and children and their families, is
different than typical counseling. The therapist who works with gifted people needs to have studied
and know well the unique needs and challenges of gifted individuals and to understand and accept
them as such, and be able to serve as guide, advocate, or anchor point for clients seeking
support (Silverman, 1993).
 At the Hellenic Association  of Parents of Gifted Children, having lived in the world of giftedness our
entire life, having studied it, and having conducted research on gifted children and gifted adults, we
more than anyone else understand the quirky nature and the immense talents of the gifted, and the
many challenges associated with their giftedness.
We work on schematizeing a semi-structured brief therapy model focused on giftedness, through a
short intervention approach of ~10 sessions, choosing effective methods and techniques suitable on
the nature of the gifted individual.

Because of the short-term intervention, it is essential to fully understand the very nature of
giftedness, in order to choose proper techniques : different for an introvert gifted, with linear logical
mathematical thinking, focus on literalism, low emotional expression scale and difficulties in
projection, and utterly different for an extrovert creative “chaotic” gifted, with strong imagination,
struggle with procrastination and  overhelmed by their own thoughts and interests.

Once identified –using wide-shaped evaluation methods and tools, so that the assessment is reliable
and valid– we provide to the gifted client a safe and caring environment that comes with
understanding and meeting their needs, in order to talk openly, and underlying the circular relation
between problems and giftedness.

We first provide the gifted person with all the information about the traits and characteristics that set
up the giftedness, what really are its aspects and what it really means, and what happens in the life
cycle of a gifted individual. Then, in a safe, supportive and accepting environment, we provide to the
gifted person the guidance is needed, ot hey can
- understand the real and deeper nature of their problems and associate them with their giftedness,
- explore their potential, their specific needs and their own traits, strengths and challenges,
- [re-]construct a new sense of self and re-narrate their whole being, free of negative
[self-]assessments and [self-]labels
-        identify and express their feelings in substantial, healthy and safe ways,
- learn and practice new functional self-management and self-acceptance techniques and come to
better understand themselves fully and holistically
- find new ways for communication and social interaction and integration preserving their real nature
and build up positive coping skills
- accept and feel free and safe to really be themselves and  integrate to their environments in a
realistic way, ot hey can open up their world to greater self-assuredness and freedom to be who
they really are.

We practiced to this model on gifted people who asked for counseling and we had very good results,
soon we will be in a position to present a more complete model for a short term semi-structured
therapy focused on the characteristics of the gifted client.
Bibliography:
- Amend E.R., Peters D. B. (2012). Misdiagnosis, Dual diagnosis, and missed diagnosis of gifted children and adults.
SENG Conference, CE Workshop, July 13, 2012.
-  Ανδρούτσου  Β.,  Τσάκωνα  Ε.,  Μπαντέλη  Ρ.,  Δήμου  Α. (2015).  Διπλή Διαφοροποίηση, Λανθασμένες Διαγνώσεις, και
Εργαλεία Αξιολόγησης της Χαρισματικότητας. 3ο Πανελλήνιο Συνέδριο ΨΕΒΕ “Ψυχολογία και Εκπαίδευση: Σύγχρονοι
Προσανατολισμοί και Εφαρμογές”. Ιωάννινα, 9–11 Οκτωβρίου 2015.
- Peterson J.S. and Moon S.M. (2008). Counseling the Gifted, In Steven I. Pfeiffer (ed.)  Handbook of Giftedness in
Children. Springer, pp. 223-248.
- Silverman L. K. Counselling the gifted and talented. Denver: Love Publishing, 1993.

- Yermish, A. (2010). Cheetahs on the Couch: Issues Affecting the Therapeutic Working Alliance With Clients Who Are
Cognitively Gifted : Thesis. Massachusetts School οf Professional Psychology.