In observance of my 60th birthday today; I’m marking it in the only way that felt like me: releasing two books at once as my gift to the world!
The second edition of Thrill, this one subtitled Embracing the Creative Paradox of Sensitivity and Sensation Seeking goes deeper into the research behind why some of us are wired for both caution and risk—and how that paradox fuels creativity rather than fighting it.
Alongside it, a brand-new companion, Thrill: Everyday Creators, brings that research to life through real stories, people using their sensitivity and their drive for intensity to shape careers, relationships, and change in ways that reflect real-world challenges.
Something clicked for me while writing these two books and Everyday Creators spoke to me as more than just a book; it illuminated a new path I intend to walk exploring how everyday creators (whether an educator, parent, businessperson, or studio creative) use creative thinking to innovate; develop novel solutions to pressing problems; and bring our capacities to bear in unique and original ways. My goal is to foster a community of likeminded creatives I call Everyday Creators Collective!
This journey isn’t different than my past work; just more inclusive, more fun, and more me. I’ll still post on various topics but will also include news and events for Everyday Creators Collective.
Ringing in my 60th year, I invite all creatives to join me in building a collaborative, applications-oriented collective that privileges the human capacity to create our way forward towards the possible selves that truly light us up!
Think being highly sensitive means you always prefer a quiet life on the sidelines? Our 2023 study found that for 1 in 3 sensitive people, that stereotype is completely wrong
1. The “Sensitive Thrill-Seeker” is a significant group (25-30% overlap)
The study specifically looked at people who scored in the top 50% for sensation seeking and found that 25% of them were also highly sensitive. Conversely, when looking at the highly sensitive group (the top 34% of the sample), nearly 30% (21 out of 72) also qualified as high sensation seekers. This confirms that a substantial portion of sensitive people, roughly 1 in 3, have a dual nature that craves both depth and intensity.
2. You can crave adventure without being reckless
The study found that while highly sensitive people generally avoid “classic” physical risks (like dangerous driving or gambling), they do score high on seeking new experiences, disinhibition, and adventure when measured correctly. If you love intense travel, deep conversations, or complex art but hate danger, you aren’t “faking” your sensation seeking, you’re just doing it the HSP way.
3. “Impulsivity” might actually be overwhelm in disguise
One of the biggest “aha” moments was a link between high sensitivity and “negative urgency,” the tendency to act rashly when you feel bad. For an HSS/HSP, what looks like impulsive behavior might actually be a coping mechanism to escape overstimulation. If you find yourself making rash decisions only when you’re stressed, it’s likely your nervous system trying to hit the “eject” button on the pressure!
4. The “Reverse-Score” Trap: Why you might have mistyped yourself. The study discovered that standard personality tests often mislabel HSPs as low sensation seekers simply because HSPs answer “trick questions” (reverse-scored items) more carefully than others. This means many sensitive people may have been told they aren’t sensation seekers just because they are conscientious test-takers, not because they lack the drive for adventure. If you’ve ever taken a test that said you were ‘low’ on adventure but ‘high’ on sensitivity, the test might have been flawed, not you.
5. The “Gas and Brake” Dilemma (Why you feel constantly conflicted) HSS/HSPs face a unique challenge that other groups don’t: a persistent “inner conflict” between two opposing biological needs. You constantly have to negotiate between your need for novelty (the gas) and your need to withdraw and process (the brake).
The specific insight: The study highlights that this isn’t just a mood swing, it’s a structural personality conflict. This group struggles more than others to find partners, friends, and careers that fit both sides, often leading to burnout because they try to keep up with their “adventurous” side while ignoring their “sensitive” side until they crash.
6. It explains why “small talk” feels physically painful
The study validated the specific Sensation Seeking Scale for Highly Sensitive Persons (SSSHSP), which includes items like “I can become almost painfully bored in some conversations.” This is a huge validation: it proves that for this group, overstimulation isn’t the only enemy—under-stimulation (boredom) is just as stressful. If you feel drained by mundane routine or shallow chat, it’s not because you’re snobby; it’s a biological need for meaningful intensity.
7. It exposes a major “blind spot” for therapists and educators
Professionals often fail to recognize high sensitivity in people who are outgoing, adventurous, or high-energy. Because these people don’t fit the “shy/anxious” stereotype, their sensitivity is missed, leading to bad advice (like being told to “push through” overwhelm). This article matters because it tells the medical and educational world: Stop assuming all sensitive people are quiet wallflowers.
Consider taking my survey if you are HSS/HSP! HSS/HSP Men especially encouraged !
Research Survey on Creativity, Sensitivity & Sensation Seeking (15-20 min)
Can you believe it’s been 10 years since Thrill: The High Sensation Seeking Highly Sensitive Person was released? Times have changed and now it’s time to focus on conducting research from a different perspective for the second edition of Thrill!
About the survey: This anonymous survey explores how creativity manifests across different life areas—including childhood experiences, career, relationships, self-care practices, risk-taking, and personal transformation.
If you’ve ever felt: → Deeply moved by beauty, art, or music → Driven to seek new and intense experiences → That your creative energy is central to who you are → The tension between needing novelty AND needing quiet processing time …this survey is for you.
Time commitment: 15-20 minutes
Eligibility: Adults 18+ who are HSS/HSPs and engage with creativity in any form
Compensation: None, but you’ll be contributing to research designed to help people like us understand our unique wiring
Anonymity: Fully anonymous. No identifying information collected.
Are you the person who says yes to the road trip—then researches every stop along the way?
The one who craves new experiences but thinks them through first. Who gets genuinely excited by ideas, places, and possibilities—but processes them deeply.
Science calls this being an HSP/HSS: a highly sensitive high sensation seeker. It’s not a contradiction. It’s a calibrated approach to life.
We’re studying this trait combination, and we need your perspective.
Calling Creative HSS/HSP Souls: Research Participation Invitation
Creative HSS/HSP adults: Your voice matters! Help shape the second edition of “Thrill: The High Sensation Seeking Highly Sensitive Person” by participating in an anonymous survey exploring creativity in everyday life.
Who Should Participate
Adults (18+) who identify as High Sensation Seeking and Highly Sensitive, and engage with creativity in any form. Professionals and non-professionals alike are welcome—if creativity in all its’ manifestations is meaningful in your life, your insights are invaluable.
Survey Details
Takes 15–20 minutes
Anonymous and online
Covers creativity across childhood, work, relationships, self-care, and meaning-making
Why Join?
Your responses will directly inform a book designed to support creative HSS/HSP individuals in understanding their unique temperaments and cultivating sustainable, fulfilling creative lives.
Millions of people navigate both high sensitivity and sensation seeking daily, but professional training resources remain scarce.
Half of all highly sensitive people also score high in sensation seeking. They need recovery time after social events while simultaneously craving novel experiences. They process deeply but get bored easily.
Standard personality assessments don’t account for this combination. Most assume sensitivity means preferring low-stimulation environments. The research shows otherwise.
Weekly one-hour live sessions combine with self-paced learning modules. For helping professionals who are HSS/HSP themselves, this training offers both specialized skills and personal insights into sustainable practice.
Enrollment is limited to ensure quality interaction and peer learning.
Don’t wait, this combination of traits is present in millions of people, but this course is one of a kind and led by Dr. Tracy Cooper!
Please share with anyone in a helping profession or who is interested in learning deeply about HSS/HSPs!
Published research confirms what many of us suspected: up to 50% of highly sensitive people are also high sensation seekers!
Dr. Elaine Aron’s original HSP research identified both sensitivity and sensation seeking as potentially co-occurring but the majority of efforts since have focused on sensitivity alone. That gap left millions of people without adequate resources.
Current findings show HSS/HSPs face specific challenges:
• Higher rates of under stimulation despite needing recovery time
• More complex relationship patterns
• Increased difficulty with traditional stress management approaches
Traditional approaches recommend either stimulation reduction OR engagement increases. For HSS/HSPs, effective strategies require addressing both systems concurrently.
The ‘Thriving in the Chaos’ course applies these research findings to practical scenarios participants encounter weekly.
Early data shows promising outcomes for those who complete the full program versus those using generic HSP resources.
Join the first cohort of this new course focusing entirely on HSS/HSPs! Especially good for helping professionals but suitable for anyone interested in learning more about this dynamic population.
Ten+ years into my HSS/HSP research, I still get messages from people saying ‘Finally, someone gets it.’
Half of all highly sensitive people also score high in sensation seeking. They need recovery time after social events while simultaneously craving novel experiences. They process deeply but get bored easily.
Standard personality assessments don’t account for this combination. Most assume sensitivity means preferring low-stimulation environments. The research shows otherwise.
The Sensation-Seeking HSP: Thriving in the Chaos addresses this gap through a seven-week professional course for therapists, counselors, coaches, educators, or anyone in a helping profession.
The format includes weekly one-hour live sessions plus self-paced modules covering neuroscience, developmental work, practical strategies, and reflection-based interactions with Dr. Cooper and fellow participants.
For helping professionals who are HSS/HSP themselves, this professional education provides both core development in an underserved area and personal insight into sustainable practice methods.
Our labor of love – Sensitive Men Rising – is finally available for all to view for free!! Donations are highly encouraged to support the work of the Foundation for the Study of Highly Sensitive Persons and recoup the costs of creating this timeless film for the world.
Will Harper, myself, and all of the production team would like to express our thanks for all of your kind support since we started this project in 2019!! We know that SMR will now be out in the world communicating a very different message about what men can be and what the world needs from us – to be whole human beings FREE to live in our fullness, to love from our hearts, and to realize our potential to lead, inspire, and lift each other up!!
For too long, sensitive men have been told to toughen up, to stay quiet, to disappear into the background. But in Sensitive Men Rising, they rise—with science, with soul, and with unapologetic truth.
Three compelling episodes
Grounded in research, story, and heart
Offered freely to the global community
Are we finally ready to hear what sensitive men have to say?
Episode 1: The Call to Rise
How does sensitivity redefine strength in men—and why does it matter now more than ever?
Hosted by acclaimed narrator and HSP advocate Peter Coyote, this powerful opening episode sets the stage for a new conversation about masculinity, sensitivity, and transformation. With deeply personal insights from Alanis Morissette, a mother raising two highly sensitive sons, we witness how this often-misunderstood trait touches every part of life—from parenting to purpose.
Through science-backed commentary, poetic storytelling, and raw reflections from everyday men, scholars, therapists, and teachers, Sensitive Men Rising begins its journey. Together, they ask the questions that matter:
Can sensitive men lead? Can they thrive?
And more importantly—can we finally hear them?
This is the moment sensitivity rises from the shadows.
It’s not weakness. It’s awareness. It’s compassion.
And it may just be the antidote our chaotic world is searching for.
Episode 2: The Science of Sensitivity
What if sensitivity in boys and men wasn’t a weakness… but a hardwired gift?
In this revelatory second episode, we step into the heart of the science. Dr. Elaine Aron, pioneer of the Sensory Processing Sensitivity trait, joins fellow researchers to explore what makes sensitive boys and men biologically distinct—and emotionally powerful.
The episode features Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, the world’s most celebrated psychology podcaster and a return guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. A leading voice on self-actualization, Scott shares how his own sensitivity made him a deep processor of thought, feeling, and meaning—a trait he now champions as essential to growth, creativity, and human connection.
We also meet the young highly sensitive prodigy, Soborno Isaac Bari who expounds on empathy and social responsibility, along with mothers, teachers, therapist, and sensitive men whose short, moving stories reveal what it’s really like to grow up with a highly attuned nervous system in a noisy, demanding world.
And in a closing moment that’s both vulnerable and powerful, Alanis Morissette opens up about the challenges of raising sensitive boys—and the resilience it takes to protect their emotional truth.
Episode 3: The Future of Sensitivity
What happens when sensitive men are no longer silenced—but step forward to lead?
The final episode of Sensitive Men Rising weaves everything together—science, soul, and social responsibility—to reveal a new model of leadership grounded in emotional intelligence, perceptiveness, and care.
From boardrooms to classrooms, the film explores how sensitivity may be the most overlooked asset in business, education, and global culture. With insights from Dr. Tracy Cooper, Ph.D., experts in psychology and leadership discuss why highly sensitive men may be especially suited to guide the next generation—not in spite of their deep awareness, but because of it.
As the world searches for more mindful leaders, better fathers, and emotionally present men, this episode asks a final, urgent question:
What kind of world could we build… if we finally made space for the sensitive ones?
Dr. Tracy Cooper 