Julie Warriner, Gifted Youth Coordinator
Jan 28, 2026
What does giftedness look like beyond academics? Dr. Michelle Sukenik, Head of School Counseling at American Heritage Schools and a Mensa parent, reflects on gifted children through the dual lens of her professional work and lived experience—exploring intensity, creativity, and the importance of nurturing compassionate, emotionally grounded kids.
In our Gifted Youth community, many families wear multiple hats - parent, advocate, guide, and often learner alongside their children. We recently invited Dr. Michelle Sukenik, Head of School Counseling at American Heritage Schools and a Palm Beach Area Mensa parent, to share her perspective on giftedness through the dual lens of her professional work and her experience raising gifted children of her own.
This month, Dr. Sukenik reflects on the complexity of giftedness - its intensity, creativity, and occasional loneliness - and the importance of nurturing not just bright minds, but compassionate, emotionally grounded humans. Her thoughts speak directly to a reality many Mensa families recognize: gifted children may think far beyond their years, but they are still children finding their way in the world. We’ll continue this conversation and share more of Dr. Sukenik’s insights in a future issue.
We asked: You work with gifted students from a counseling perspective and are also raising gifted children. How has being a parent influenced the way you see your work?
Dr. Sukenik shared:
I feel incredibly fortunate to have raised—and to still be raising—gifted children. My journey as a mother has profoundly shaped my perspective as a school counselor, teaching me that giftedness is multifaceted. These children are defined not just by cognitive strength, but by their unique, creative ways of perceiving the world.
Raising gifted children is a beautiful challenge. These kids are driven to understand how the world works, usually at 2:00 AM when the rest of us are asleep. They don’t just learn; they obsess. Whether they are tackling a complex math problem, learning a new instrument or mastering a pirouette, they demand a level of self-challenge that keeps them constantly evolving.
However, just because a kid is brilliant doesn't mean they’ve got it all figured out. The discrepancy between cognitive ability and developmental age can be a source of deep frustration. As a school counselor, I see the struggle that comes with this gift. It’s easy to forget that a child with a profound mind is still a child. That gap between their intellect and their age can be a lonely place. We must remember that these children have only been on the planet for a very short time, and that includes the gifted ones!
Many parents of gifted children share a common struggle: finding ways to keep a child intellectually engaged while raising compassionate human beings. Incorporating social and emotional lessons—concepts that can often feel abstract to highly gifted minds—is the cornerstone of my work as both a mother and a school counselor. Our children may be exceptionally smart, but it is equally vital to ensure they are compassionate and kind. When you put it all together, you’re left with children who are as kind as they are bright. Honestly, what could be better than that?
About Dr. Michelle Sukenik
Dr. Michelle Sukenik, Psy.D., LMHC, serves as Head of School Counseling at American Heritage Schools and is a Palm Beach Area Mensa parent. As both a counselor and a mother of four, she brings a deeply personal and professional perspective to supporting gifted children and their families. She also sits on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs and is a lifelong supporter of creativity and the arts.