Psychologist for gifted children and adolescents · Bucharest and online
Giftedness
A child whose mind runs ahead of the rest of their development needs to learn how to simply be a child.
Giftedness does not just mean high marks or outstanding results. It is a different way of perceiving, thinking and feeling, often more intense, quicker and deeper than that of the people around them. For some children, this gift comes with a loneliness that is hard to explain: they feel different, misunderstood or too much for others.
For parents, giftedness brings pride, but also questions: how to support without putting on pressure, how to protect without restricting, what to do when school can no longer keep pace with the child.
Areas of work
Intensity
The psychiatrist and psychologist Kazimierz Dąbrowski described in many gifted children an intensity he called overexcitability, which takes five forms: intellectual (a mind that never stops asking questions), emotional (deep feelings and strong attachments), imaginative (a rich inner world), sensory (sensitivity to sounds, textures and beauty) and psychomotor (energy and a need for movement). This intensity is not a problem to be corrected, but part of the child's gift, and it needs to be understood.
The mind that runs ahead of the heart
A child can think like an adult and feel like a child of their age. They may ask questions about death, meaning or injustice that they cannot yet bear emotionally. The gap between the mind and the capacity to bear feelings is often the source of anxieties, crises and the sense that something is wrong.
Perfectionism and the fear of failure
When everything has come easily, the first mistake can feel like a catastrophe. Some gifted children avoid challenges for fear of disappointing; others no longer enjoy their successes because “that's how it was supposed to be”. Sometimes their worth comes to be measured only by results, by themselves or by those around them. The high-achieving child →
School and boredom
Boredom in lessons, conflicts with teachers, marks that drop in precisely the child everyone said was “clever”. A gifted child who is not challenged may withdraw, become inattentive or be seen as “difficult”. Sometimes it helps to understand together, child, parents and teachers, what the child actually needs.
Loneliness and the feeling of being different
Unusual interests, a sense of humour others don't get, the difficulty of finding friends on the same wavelength. Some gifted children learn to pretend in order to be accepted. Others withdraw. Sometimes intelligence becomes a refuge: everything is thought, less and less is felt.
Giftedness alongside ADHD or dyslexia
A gifted child may, at the same time, have ADHD, dyslexia or other learning difficulties. Their intelligence helps them compensate for years, and the difficulty goes unnoticed until the effort becomes too great or their marks drop for no apparent reason. Specialists call this twice-exceptionality. Neurodivergence →
Parents of a gifted child
Pride that turns into expectation, the tiredness of keeping up with a child who never stops asking questions, siblings who feel compared. Parents, too, need to think about what they feel and how they can be there for the child, without pushing them and without holding them back.
If you recognise yourself here, write to me →
Who it is for
- Gifted children and adolescents — a space where they do not have to be brilliant, only themselves
- Parents — individually or together, to understand their child and find their own place alongside them
What my experience is made of
I am a clinical psychologist licensed in Romania and a psychoanalytic psychotherapist in training.
How it works
- Write to me using the form below or by email. A few lines are enough; there is no need to explain everything.
- I reply within 1–2 working days and we arrange the time of the first meeting together.
- The first meeting, 45 minutes long, at the practice or online, is devoted to understanding the situation. Only then do we decide together whether and how to continue.
The framework
Sessions last 45 minutes and take place at my practice or online. I usually begin with a meeting with the parents, then work with the child or adolescent. For children and adolescents under 18, the work always begins with the parents' consent. Fee: 250 lei / session.
First meeting
Write me a few lines about what brings you. There is no need to explain everything.
Or write to me directly at radutudorache@protonmail.com.
Psychological counselling does not replace a psychiatric consultation when one is needed.