What if the very thing that makes you gifted is also what makes life feel overwhelming?

In this episode of Notes to My Nervous System, Erin Vandermore sits down with therapist Gordon Smith to explore what it means to live in a gifted nervous system — especially after burnout, crisis, or long-term emotional overwhelm.

Giftedness is often misunderstood as simply high intelligence. As Gordon explains, it is a neurodivergent nervous system that processes the world more intensely — emotionally, cognitively, and sensorially. For many gifted adults, this heightened sensitivity can make life feel louder, heavier, and harder to navigate, particularly in systems that weren’t built for how deeply they experience the world.

Together, Erin and Gordon explore:

• Why gifted people often feel “too much” or misunderstood

• How chronic overwhelm and self-doubt can develop over time

• Why traditional school and work environments often fail gifted nervous systems

• How creativity, imagination, and improv can support regulation and recovery

Gordon shares how storytelling and creative expression can help the nervous system feel safer, expand capacity, and rebuild meaning after stress or trauma — without forcing performance or perfection.

This episode is for anyone who has ever felt different, emotionally intense, overwhelmed by their own mind, or exhausted from trying to fit into systems that don’t quite fit them.

Notes to My Nervous System is hosted by Erin Vandermore, a therapist, mom, and creator of the Mind Circuit app. Erin helps people understand their nervous systems with compassion, science, and real-life tools that support emotional regulation, safety, and self-trust.

Mind Circuit is a mental wellness app designed to help you regulate stress and calm your nervous system using evidence-based practices.

Download Mind Circuit:

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.app.ageOfUncertainty&hl=en

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mindcircuit/id6478664305

Website: https://mindcircuit.app

Gordon Smith is a therapist who specializes in working with gifted adults and using improv and creative practices in healing. His work focuses on helping gifted individuals feel safe in their full expression and teaching the nervous system that it no longer needs to contract, perform, or mask to survive. Gordon creates critique-free environments where creativity becomes a pathway to regulation, meaning-making, and nervous-system healing.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonsmithashevillehttps://www.facebook.com/GordonSmithLpc/