Giftedness is not something you have as a child and then grow out of. It is a fundamental part of who you are and how you experience the world around you. In other words, gifted children grow up into gifted adults. However, particularly in Ireland where awareness of the issue is in its infancy, most adults are unaware of the concept and the issues that go with it until their children are identified and they start to do some reading about it. As awareness of the field is raised, some people may be lucky enough to be picked up sooner.
One of our members, Michele Pippet, is a counselling psychologist who works extensively with young adults struggling to cope with various life situations. Since becoming familiar with the unique psychology of giftedness, she has identified many previously unidentified gifted adults and feels that they tend to be the ones who struggle most to resolve their issues and move on. They are also the ones who, given the right pointers, can do a great deal of self learning. Giving them this missing piece of their personal jigsaw has transformed the lives of many of her clients. Over the past two years, Michele and Catherine Riordan, have compiled the following list of reading materials. It has been used “in the field” many times and we hope that you find it helpful.
Resources
- Excellent Australian website with section for adults: Gifted & Creative Services Australia
- Gifted Development Centre, section on adults.
- Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration An overview
- Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration An entire website devoted to it!
- Overexcitabilities and Sensitivities: Implications of Dabrowski’s Theory
- of Positive Disintegration for Counseling the Gifted
- Dabrowski’s Theory and Existential Depression in Gifted Children and Adults by James T Webb Ph D
- Surprised To Be Gifted: The Inner World Of Unrecognised Giftedness
- Inner Conflict as a Path to Higher Development (refers to middle age, but equally applicable to younger adults):
- Counseling Gifted Adults—A Case Study
- Dealing with that little voice that tells us we aren’t good enough
- Solutions For the Problems of Giftedness
- The Impact of Giftedness on Psychological Well-Being
- A common theme is Imposter Syndrome
- Face Your Imposter by Lisa Rivero
- Who Do You Think You Are? 8 Tips to Beat the Impostor Syndrome
- Gifted People and Their Problems A comprehensive digest of materials
- Gifted Women: Identity and Expression by Douglas Eby
- Misdiagnosis of the Gifted by Lynne Azpeitia and Mary Rocamora
- Why Some Gifted Individuals Don’t Love A Party by Cherise Albright
- Can you Hear the Flowers Sing? Issues for Gifted Adults by Deirdre Lovecky
- Experience and Processing: The Funnel and Cylinder Analogy of Giftedness by Shulamit Widawsky
- The Universal Experience of Being Out-of-Sync: An Expanded View by Linda Silverman
- Depression in Gifted People is No ordinary Depression
- Giftedness in the Workplace: Can the Bright Mind Thrive in Organisations? by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen
- Gifted and Stressed by Douglas Eby
- The gifted adult personality – too much for others? by Douglas Eby
- The Self-Education of Gifted Adults by Lisa Rivero
- Gifted Adults and Imposter Syndrome Transcript and list of reading material from #gtchat
- I’m Coming Out of the Autism Closet Aspergers in women
- Gifted Children and Adults – Neglected Areas of Practice by James T Webb
- Talent Development Resources
- High Ability
- The Creative Mind
- Gifted For Life
- How To In Life
- Rediscovering Yourself
Binocular Behavior & The Gifted – A Dysfunctional Form of Self-Protection and Control by Jennifer Harvey Sallin