ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests some guiding principles for facilitating better outcomes for extreme intelligence or high IQ/giftedness in parenting, schooling, in the workplace, and in personal performance. The importance of a balanced reaction to high potential, boundaries, affect regulation, psychoeducation, mentalisation, and effective communication are highlighted for safeguarding against the naivety or arrogance that underlies much high-IQ interpersonal difficulty, which in turn often prevents an actualising of potential. Excerpts are presented from Sonja Falck’s qualitative research interviews, showing issues that high-IQ adults experienced, how they tackled these, and what resources were helpful. The need for training so as to suitably differentiate therapy and coaching provision for high-IQ clients is raised. The change process involved in moving towards the “Thriving” quadrant of Falck’s High-IQ Relational Styles framework is analysed, emphasising the benefits of improving interpersonal understanding and skill and experiencing relational repair of difficulty and despair. It is highlighted that managing the dynamics of collaboration and competition effectively – as well as managing stress, perfectionism, and multipotentiality – is vital for optimising personal performance and combating high-IQ underachievement. The chapter ends by reflecting on our tendency to laud individual achievement: collective contributions to success are recognised, and how we define success is questioned.
