Careers for highly sensitive people (orchid child)

[Wearegettingthere]

What sort of careers would you suggest for a highly sensitive person?DD likes acting but that is a competitive world. She doesn’t want to do office jobs. I thinking working for herself would suit her best. Something like therapist, acupuncturist, etc. She is very creative, perspective, imaginative but doesn’t cope well in stressful environments.

If she's good with orchids I'd think horticulture. Creative, fresh air and plants are pretty sensitive. If orchid actually means nightmare to manage them self employed gardener may also suit.

Ffs let her find her own way in the world!!!! Orchid child
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I think I am a daisy. People are always squashing me but I pop back up again.

Dandelions are more useful, so that’s a great analogy!! 😁

She needs to get a job which pays sufficient money to support herself or else it will be the bank of Mum for the rest of her life. Sounds like she needs a reality check. Depends what her interests are.

The other thing about dandelions of course (from a gardener's point of view) is that they grow where you don't want them, they are garish, seriously irritating, and you can't get rid of them no matter what you do. None of which are positive attributes, are they? Their name comes from the French 'dents de lion' meaning lion's teeth. And if you pick the flowers, their sap contains a diuretic, hence the old traditional name of piss-the-beds.

Whereas the extremely strong and long-lasting vanilla (the seed pod of the vanilla orchid) is powerful, very pleasant and liked by just about everyone.

That psychologist really didn't think it through, did they?😂

I'm thinking more hawthorn.

Mostly white, flushed pink in Spring sunshine, up and out after the rest of the trees wherever possible, goes red by Autumn, animals like me and underneath it all, I'm a massive prick.

Anyhow, to continue with the plant based simile (and I hope everybody's receiving flowers rather than hearts), if somebody actually did have a need to be treated like an orchid, they need to be in a place that's really inhospitable to humans, rife with disease and bugs and left to do what they can - or taken out of protective packaging, knocked out their pot, all the clump of moss taken out, half their roots chopped off and bunged into a mix of chips, bit of perlite and a few shreds of the old moss, dunked in water and then abandoned on a northfacing windowsill for the next 3 months.

Well, they definitely didn’t get any advice from gardeners, that’s for sure!!! Thanks for sharing the dandelion knowledge; as a non-gardener who has always lived in flats, it’s very interesting.

I saw some orchids growing on the central reservation on the A30 the other day. They looked tough.

<possibly misses point>

OP in all honesty, my counsellor described me, a woman in her 50s, as a highly sensitive person recently after a break up and some subsequent struggles. Had I been told that as a child and teen and if my parents had indulged the label, I would have achieved nothing and learned no resilience at all. Best not. She needs to toughen up.

Orchid child??! 🤔 I think I manage some of these. It’s not fun!

In my experience of (cultivated) orchids, the more you fuss around and pamper them, the weaker and wiltier they get.

Glad someone else pointed it out ,when i was a kid dandelions were known as wet the beds.

I’ve not heard the term but she won’t have any personal growth and development resilience if she just works for herself all on her own. She needs to get out into the world.

Personally I think self employment should come later on after you’ve experienced employment and learned what you can from that, made friends, build up networks etc.

Boyce isn't a psychologist, he's a paediatrician / child psychiastrist & emeritis prof at UCSF.
Not sure what he'd say about how his ideas of heightened sensitivity dovetail with neurodivergence. His research comes from before the expansion of autism diagnosis. He does talk about ADHD but my memory of the book is too foggy. Might try and borrow the audiobook.
I think he was leaning in one direction, and the APS and DSM5 went in another - but possibly with (controversial) proposed split in autism diagnosis we might end up with something like heightened sensitivity / reactity as a diagnostic category.

Parma violets would seem appropriate.

Bit unfair isnt it that resilience is rewarded with being called a dandelion (best known for being annoying weeds -ironic- and for making you wet the bed and ruining the garden) and wimpy, wet lettuce, sensitive kids are called "orchids"

Oh the irony

I was a very sensitive kid. I’m autistic and have had chronic depression and anxiety since I was 12.

OP, you need to teach your child resilience.

Therapist is probably quite stressful if listening to people’s problems but maybe something like a speech therapist could work.
If she likes acting then maybe a drama teacher although teaching can be a stressful job.
I think she needs to look at what she enjoys and is good at.
No office job rules out a lot of careers. Guessing she means something physical/active then.

options I can think of hairdressing, a trade like plumbing, some kind of fitness trainer, physiotherapist, nursery teacher

OP I do get it, some people do have more highly sensitive or reactive nervous systems and that can make life more difficult. I don't know if there is any career that doesn't involve competition and stress. I work as an illustrator, been to art school and have my BA & MA. I did have to struggle and push a bit when I was younger. A lot of the art scene is very competitive so while the work is a good match the mechanics of how you get a career can be brutal. If you have significant family connections or plenty of money as a family then it might be an OK option.

Therapist might be ok if you are in London or another wealthy area but most people can't afford private therapy so there isn't a lot of work out there for it. I have a few friends who trained as therapists and only one still works as one part time but its voluntary so she doesn't get paid for it. Also The kind of people who pay for therapy are more likely to want someone older I find with more life experience themselves. Its also not often a job you can do day in day out even if you can get the clients as it is very draining.

Perhaps something like working as an alternative therapist like herbalism or something might suit although there is limited funding for such courses and limited work again and it does involve working with people one on one which can also be taxing.

I will admit that I benefited greatly from marrying a well paid engineer (not why I married him of course but it was a benefit) that he was happy to support me financially while I finished my graduate studies and worked on building my career and he is the biggest earner out of us now although I sometimes have excellent years to rival his income but its suits me to keep my work level manageable.

I think I was an orchid as a child but as I am one of 6 DC I had to become a dandelion, and deal with never quite having my needs met.

I think it makes me quite a competent and kind person - certainly that’s the feedback I get IRL. I coped by realising how important it is to think of others rather than be self-absorbed and also you learn so much by being interested in other people!

Kindly, I’m a physiotherapist and you clearly haven’t got a clue re: what our work actually involves. We’re not glorified personal trainers/massage therapists.

My work is entirely ICU based with critically ill patients - to suggest that this job doesn’t involve stress and resilience is incredibly ignorant and insulting.

Brilliant 😂

I agree @Blueeberry . The physios I know are university educated and trained and work hard. They work with patients and the job is a clinical and physical one.

Dear god. Orchid child.
Society is doomed.

This must be the new "Indigo child"! My cousins were Indigo children in the 80s 😂