My interest in giftedness began when I was placed in the first Gifted & Talented class in a NYC suburb. Our small class of 15 students provided constant intellectual stimulation, but I never felt that I was truly keeping up with the other students. My feelings of being an imposter were reinforced in 7th grade, when we were all retested for middle-school placement. I was placed in only one gifted class (Reading), which isolated me from my former peers. The “highlight” of the class was watching a movie of Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery. The violent, cruel ending of the movie scarred my 7th-grade soul. I was called, as usual, “too sensitive” and told I “think too much,” but nobody ever helped me learn to manage my sensitivity or the intense feelings that gifted people so often experience. My grades were decent but did not reflect my true capabilities. Lectures and homework bored me and seemed redundant. My feelings of being an imposter were reinforced by schools not knowing what to do with me, constantly switching me between AP and regular classes. Not only was giftedness not recognized as a neurodivergence at that time, but ADHD (which I was only diagnosed with as an adult) was rarely diagnosed in girls, and the term “twice-exceptional” was not even in play. Despite my mediocre grades, my ability to test well landed me at a top-tier law school (USC) and later, in a PhD program in Developmental Psychology, in which my research on eyewitness testimony integrated my interests in law and psychology. Although there were specific reasons for pursuing both of those educational paths, earning these degrees provided me with a bit of “proof” that I was bright. My son was born mid-way through my PhD program. His intelligence was obvious nearly from his birth. At 3 months old, swaddling and rocking him did not soothe him, but counting did. By age 2, he could read and write. At age 4, I made a plate for him that read “I love you all the way to Mars, around a google times, and back home to Mommy.” When I gave it to him, he put it immediately to the trash can; he was hurt that it did not read a googolplex times. Once again, I felt like an imposter for the only such word I knew was Google. By this time, it was clear that he would need to be homeschooled. When searching for homeschooling curricula, I contacted Betty Maxwell of the Gifted Development Center to discuss options. During that conversation, I said “This all comes from his father.” Her answer changed my life: “All the mothers say that, and then I find out that they are working as professors, have two doctorates and are homeschooling their gifted child as a single parent.” I walked to my bookshelf, picked Mary-Elaine Jacobsen’s The Gifted Adult from the books on giftedness that I had collected through my son’s life. For the first time, I identified as a gifted individual. Like many gifted individuals, my son’s development was asynchronous. His social and emotional growth stagnated, while he continued to thrive intellectually. He was frequently frustrated and had temper outbursts, something I originally attributed to the fact that his environments (preschool and college, which he began at age 10) could not meet all of his needs. As he matured, his outbursts became frightening for both of us. I took him to therapists, but he never seemed to connect with them. In hindsight, I understand that gifted clients require gifted therapists. Finally, after another outburst, in which he nearly lost an eye, I sought additional care for him, including psychiatric and neurofeedback treatment. Given the difficulties both my son and I faced, especially in finding appropriate care, I became determined to help other gifted individuals. Having faced my son’s many existential questions and having many myself, I was particularly interested in a program open to such exploration. Thus, I began a Master’s program in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola University where “pastoral counseling” was defined as the ability to work with clients’ spiritual issues and a humanistic way of interacting with clients. In 2015, I opened Advancing Inspired Minds in Maryland and two years later, I expanded to Virginia. I now work as a therapist, coach, and consultant, specializing in individuals who are gifted, highly sensitive, or have multiple exceptionalities (and their families). My approach is integrative and co-creative. My personal experiences and professional background have taught me that gifted clients require individualized therapeutic approaches. Therefore, I rarely use structured approaches (such as CBT or DBT), although I incorporate isolated aspects of them as is appropriate. My clients often appreciate my multi-disciplinary background and curiosity about them and the world.