THE HIGHLY VIGILANT PERSON

The first book dedicated to recognizing and healing from the trauma-induced phenomenon of hypervigilance, when we reflexively monitor moods, scan faces for potential danger and disappointment, adjust ourselves to fit others' expectations, and anticipate other people's emotions and behaviors, all while feeling overworked, lonely, inadequate, ashamed, fearful, and exhausted in the process.

The result of prolonged relational stress stemming from a childhood with an unpredictable, boundaryless, or dismissive parent, hypervigilance is a day-to-day struggle which can often feel so "baked into" a person's identity that the patterns over-thinking, over-observing, and over-anticipatingpresent as exhausting personality traits rather than what they are a coping mechanism and a trauma response. Hypervigilance co-opts a person's entire internal wiring. It clouds our decision making we become stuck in bad jobs, stuck in wounding relationships, stuck in cycles of anxiety and worry, and stuck recreating the lonely yet high stakes environment we were desperate to escape as children. Using her own personal story, case studies and the latest research, Dr. Sage presents a groundbreaking alternative to chronic vigilance and a plan for confronting the past to finally heal. Dr. Kim Sage holds a doctorate and a master's degree in clinical psychology and has helped thousands of children and adults heal and address psychological issues like anxiety, ADHD, complex trauma, depression, and PTSD. She has trauma-informed training including EMDR, and advanced training in childhood trauma, adult attachment, anxiety, mindfulness, and relationships. She has a deep commitment to neurodivergence and helping female patients understand high masking autism that might have been misdiagnosed or missed by doctors. She has four children and lives in Southern California.