Why You Feel Everything: Understanding Highly Sensitive People with Todd Smith

Why You Feel Everything: Understanding Highly Sensitive People with Todd Smith

From No sitting on the sideline Dad by Joe Foley

November 16, 2025 · 39 min · Episode 170

About this episode

This episode explores the experiences of highly sensitive people and offers insights on managing sensitivity and stress.

Some people feel the world in a deeper way. You might walk into a room and notice tension right away. You might catch a shift in someone's voice before they even admit something is wrong. You might replay moments for days because your mind doesn't let them go. If this sounds familiar, this episode will help you make sense of it. I sat down with Todd Smith , host of the podcast Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People . Todd has spent years helping people understand why sensitivity isn't weakness. It's a real trait that shows up in about 15 to 20 percent of the population. What We Talked About What it really means to be a compassionate person. Todd explains the DOES model, which breaks sensitivity into four parts: depth of processing, overwhelm, emotion, and sensitivity to subtle cues. Why stress hits deeper for some people. We explore how stress can turn small problems into significant reactions and how sensitivity increases when life gets loud. How Byron Katie's Work Can Calm Your Mind. Todd walks through a simple method that helps you question stressful thoughts and see situations with more clarity. Parenting and sensitivity. We talk about what it's like raising a child…

People in this episode

Host: Joe Foley

Guest: Todd Smith

Topics covered

  • highly sensitive people
  • emotional awareness
  • parenting
  • stress management
  • sensitivity
  • caregiving

Keywords

  • sensitivity
  • stress
  • parenting
  • emotional processing
  • caregiving
  • Byron Katie
  • DOES model

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People

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