Life as an Empath: Navigating an Increasingly Callous World

Webinar/Q&A

With Dr. Mike Postma & Julie Postma

Wednesday, Nov. 13th
5:30pm PT (8:30pm ET)

Dr. Michael Postma and Julie Postma (an empath) investigate and discuss the vulnerabilities of being an empath and offer strategies for living a balanced life as a highly empathic person.

Learn More & Register Here

Small Group Coaching & Discussion Series

With Dr. Mike Postma

Winter 2024-25

"Beyond the Diagnosis: A Toolkit for Parents Supporting the Gifted/2e"

8 weeks of small group coaching and discussion groups designed for parents of Gifted/2e kids, teens and young adults. Join us!

Learn More & Register Here

"Never give to survival the attributes of success. We were meant to thrive and to triumph through it"

Gifted and Thriving is dedicated to the holistic development of the Gifted/Twice-Exceptional (2e) Neurodiverse community

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Diane Borgmann, Head of School
Sycamore School

"Dr. Michael Postma presented at Sycamore School's Gifted Summit 2019, a national conference for educators from independent schools with missions to serve gifted children. Michael was a keynote presenter and also led breakout sessions dealing with neurodiversity in gifted and 2e children and how it impacts academic, social, and emotional development. Using the latest brain research, Michael helped his audiences understand the academic, social, and emotional needs of their students. Michael's deep expertise and experience, coupled with his generosity of time and talent, enhanced the conference experience for all who attended."

Dr. Jim Delisle

"Educating the gifted/2e child is no easy task. Mike (Dr. Postma) has succeeded in addressing this challenge in such a way that the community of parents and educators see him for what he is: an effective, knowledgeable advocate for gifted/2e children."

Dr. Dan Peters

"Having co-presented and co-authored papers with Mike (Dr. Postma), I can attest to his sophisticated understanding of the issues that interplay and impact gifted children. Mike thoroughly understands what gifted children need to learn, grow and thrive."

Dr. and Mrs. Randal S.

"We knew that our son was very bright and had ADHD. What we did not know was that this combination was loaded with the challenges of what we now understand as the twice-exceptional (2e) child. When our son rapidly imploded, going from a straight "A" student to being incapacitated with anxiety and depression, we were utterly devastated and hopeless. We were blessed to discover Dr. Mike Postma. In our first phone call, he immediately understood and articulated what we were experiencing and assured us that our son's path, while very difficult, was actually very common for exceptionally intelligent children. Mike has walked this path before and has been an anchor of stability for us as we navigate our son's path forward. We highly recommend that parents who find themselves in similar situations allow Mike to educated them and give them the tools they need to effectively help their child. While we have education consultants and others on our "team", Mike remains as our primary source of reason while we guide our son on his journey."

Robert, Lianne, Nicholas

"We are very fortunate to have met Dr. Postma a few years ago at a SENG conference. He has been working with our young adult 2E son to alleviate his anxiety and to improve his self-confidence. Dr. Postma has been able to quickly gain our son's trust and to develop a plan to bolster his executive functioning skills. Dr. Postma not only coaches our son, he also provides invaluable support and advice to us as well. Our son is now a happier person and is enrolled in a fully-time computer animation course. We look forward to continue building upon our family's relationship with Dr. Postma."

Darla and Brent V.

"Our family has gained clarity and understanding while working with Dr. Mike. His knowledge, understanding, and calm way of coming alongside us while parenting a neuro-diverse teenager, has brought that same calmness into our home. Our son also looks forward to their time together because he feels heard, understood, and gains insight from their conversations. We treasure having resources like Dr. Mike and Julie at Gifted and Thriving on our team."

Gifted & Thriving's Mission

Our mission at Gifted and Thriving is to create supportive, educated and healthy communities by providing educational support and services to parents, teachers, families, gifted adults and all who interact and are involved with the Gifted and Twice-Exceptional (2e) populations so that they can reach their full potential in the classroom, on the job, at home and in life.

How do we properly support the gifted and twice-exceptional (2e) community?

While the answer can be complex, the most important component is the development of emotional and social skills that will endow them with a foundation for academic and life long success.

The first step is to teach metacognition; a positive self image that accepts neurodivergence as an asset, not an issue.

This basis will then provide a platform from which social, emotional, and intellectual growth can be nurtured, thus giving the gifted/2e individual the confidence to tackle the challenges that will inevitably come in life.

That is the mission of Gifted & Thriving. To be able to provide education, resources and support, teaching and training materials, and HOPE to assist in that challenging journey.

Remember, it is never too late to begin!

Products & Services

Learn. Support. THRIVE!

COACHING, CONSULTING & TUTORING

Dr. Michael Postma offers coaching for families, gifted adults, as well as tutoring for students in order to help gifted or twice-exceptional children or teens develop a solid metacognitive sense of self that enables the building of confidence in oneself and how that applies to all situations–whether in school, at home or in the community.

Learn More About Coaching!

SIGNATURE SERIES WEBINARS

Join us for our monthly live signature series webinars and access recordings from previous webinars! Gifted & Thriving's Signature Series Webinars with Dr. Mike and special guest experts share information on relevant and timely topics that the Gifted/2e community needs most to understand, learn more about and support the holistic needs of the Gifted/2e individual.

View the Webinar Library!

SPEAKING & WORKSHOPS

Keynote Sessions
Conference Sessions
School Workshops
& More!

Invite Dr. Michael Postma, Ed.D. to speak at your next event! Dr. Mike speaks both nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics within the field of education, neurodiversity, giftedness and multi-exceptionalities.

Learn More and Invite Dr. Mike to Speak!

ONLINE COURSES & WORKSHOPS

LIVE & PRE-RECORDED OPTIONS

Gifted and Thriving offers pre-recorded, self-paced courses for a variety of audiences and topics related to giftedness, twice-exceptionality and neurodiversity. Additionally, we offer various LIVE workshops throughout the year. They're typically 6 weeks long and include live group meetings, video lessons, online discussions, the development of a unique individual or family plan and more!

Shop Current Courses!

GIFTED SCHOOL PROGRAMMING & TEACHER TRAINING

Dr. Postma assists schools with developing and improving Gifted and 2e programs and providing teacher training workshops on various topics. Dr. Postma has experience with full program evaluation, including identification procedures, pedagogical delivery, assessment, curriculum & instruction design.

Learn More About Programming!

The Inconvenient Student

Critical Issues in the Identification and Education of Twice-Exceptional Students

By Dr. Michael Postma

Read Dr. Mike's recent book "The Inconvenient Student," where he tackles the problem of identifying gifted kids who are also twice-exceptional and explains in detail what these children are like and how to accommodate their needs in the regular classroom so that they can strengthen their weaknesses and maximize their strengths.

Purchase Here!

Featured Gifted and 2e Resources

Free Downloadable from Gifted and Thriving!

A 2E Survival Guide: A Practical Guide for Understanding 2E Students with 2E Checklist

Download your FREE 2E Survival Guide!

ADDitude Expert Webinar

2e 101: A Parents' Guide to Understanding and Supporting Twice-Exceptional Children

This webinar will outline the latest neurological research on the twice-exceptional brain and how it affects self-understanding.

Watch the Webinar

Impact Parents Interview

What It Means To Be Gifted and Twice- Exceptional (2e)

We discuss what it means to be 2e, the importance of social/emotional development in gifted individuals and some of society's shortcomings in recognizing and addressing 2e challenges.

Listen to the Episode

Meet Dr. Michael Postma

Hello! I'm Dr. Mike Postma, an educator, speaker, author, consultant and coach residing in beautiful Bellingham, WA.

Together with my wife, Julie, we have raised our own 4 gifted/2e children and know how difficult this journey can be. That is one reason why I have dedicated my life work to the holistic development of the gifted/2e community.

In my 25+ year career, I've served as a gifted teacher in the classroom, as an administrator of gifted schools, as a professional developer of gifted programming and curriculum and as Executive Director of the SENG organization (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted), and now leading our company as President of Gifted & Thriving, LLC.

Learn More about Mike & Julie Postma

I look forward to spending time together with you to learn how we can best teach and support this exceptional community. We can all move from a place of just surviving to THRIVING!

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