# Episode 276: Esther Kane, MSW | Highly Sensitive People Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episode-276-esther-kane-msw-highly-sensitive-people Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episode-276-esther-kane-msw-highly-sensitive-people.md Podcast: [Food Junkies Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617) Published: 2026-04-09T17:45:00+00:00 Episode link: https://foodjunkies.libsyn.com/episode-276-esther-kane-msw-highly-sensitive-people Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/foodjunkies/276_episode.mp3?dest-id=2520758 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episodes/episode-276-esther-kane-msw-highly-sensitive-people Duration seconds: 2811 ## Resource Are you highly sensitive β€” and secretly using food to manage a world that feels like too much? In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with Esther Kane, MSW, a British Columbia-based psychotherapist with nearly 30 years of experience helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) break free from emotional eating and food addiction. Esther isn't just a clinician β€” she's an HSP herself who nearly died from an eating disorder and has spent decades figuring out what works. If you've ever been told you're "too sensitive," struggled to explain why food feels like your only relief, or burned out trying to take care of everyone but yourself β€” this one's for you. πŸ• In This Episode What is a Highly Sensitive Person? Based on 40+ years of research by Dr. Elaine Aron, HSPs make up 15–20% of the population. Their nervous systems process everything more deeply β€” emotions, sensory input, other people's pain. It's not a disorder. It's a biological trait. And it comes with superpowers most people never develop. Why HSPs are so vulnerable to food addiction The world is chronically overstimulating for HSPs. Food numbs the overwhelm. It turns the volume down. Add in chronic people-pleasing, self-abandonment, absorbing everyone else's emotions, and being told your whole life that you're "too much" and food addiction makes complete sense as a survival strategy. What recovery looks like for HSPs Esther doesn't start with the food. She starts with the nervous system. You can't take away someone's coping mechanism until they have something else to hold onto. She walks through the somatic tools, boundary work, and root-cause healing that move the needle for highly sensitive people. πŸŽ™οΈ Connect with Esther Kane 🌐 estherkane.com πŸ“Ί YouTube: Compassionate Conversations πŸ‘‡ Are YOU a highly sensitive person… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episodes/episode-276-esther-kane-msw-highly-sensitive-people/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/food-junkies-podcast-3077617/episode-276-esther-kane-msw-highly-sensitive-people.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.