Meet your HSP mentor and guide
Hi. I’m Deb Siegel. I’m an HSP, empath, INFJ, misophone, deep feeler, lifelong seeker, natural-born teacher, and have a deep connection to the woods. I believe everyone should be able to live to their highest potential.
My mission is to use the wisdom I’ve gained through lived experience and my gifts of intuition and insight to guide highly sensitive people to make changes and create deeply satisfying lives.
I suffered for decades—then I found HSP
I got the message at a young age that my sound sensitivity was in my head and a problem that was not to be tolerated. My childhood was a constant barrage of muffled TVs through thin walls, ticking clocks, chewing, bright lights, and feeling the stress of the people around me. I felt defective and hated myself, and never told a soul. To survive, I buried my own awareness of my sensitivities, developed a false persona to stay safe, and looked externally to make all my life choices.
I was so disconnected from myself that I lived in New York City for 25 years of my adult life and never questioned the extreme toll the chronic overstimulation of the subway, open offices, and socializing in loud restaurants had on me. From the outside it looked like I was having a good life, but in reality it was a relentless daily slog and painful existence of chronic depression.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and I was suddenly mandated to work from home, I got my first break from chronic overwhelm in 49 years. I decompressed and the discovery that I’m an HSP quickly followed.
A flash of knowing that everything needed to change
A few months later, I had a literal aha moment and experienced a flash of knowing deep in my soul that everything about my life needed to change, but I didn’t immediately know exactly what that meant. It felt like I’d woken up from a trance and my authentic self came online for the first time since I was a child. It was terrifying to face the reality that I would need to make some difficult decisions, but I knew I couldn’t go back to burying my sensitivity.
I cobbled together a support system and transformed my life
I had no idea where to start, and I didn’t know any HSPs to talk to. I cobbled together mentors and guidance in the form of Facebook groups, podcasts, books, and YouTube videos. I had a wonderful therapist, but she wasn’t an HSP and didn’t know what to listen for. I muddled my way forward and five years later, my life is transformed. I love myself and wouldn’t trade my sensitivity for anything. It has its challenges, but now that I have a handle on it, I experience a joy and richness of life I never imagined was possible.
In hindsight, I wish I’d had a me to talk to
In hindsight, I wish I’d had a me to talk to for guidance on which skills to learn early on and what to expect as I unpacked decades of following a societal roadmap for my life choices—someone who knows what it feels like to live in survival mode for decades, discover high sensitivity, make changes that once seemed impossible, and feel calm and optimistic about their life.
I discovered my gifts and my purpose
Today, I love being highly sensitive and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I no longer think of myself as “different.” I’m a unicorn with rare gifts. After decades of having no goals, I’ve discovered my purpose: To use my gifts of intuition and insight to mentor my fellow beloved sensitive souls and help them move toward the lives they deserve.
