Personality Compass with Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala

Personality Compass with Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala Using science-backed strategies to empower people to become the best version of themselves. Visit my website to work with me!

Dr. Shannon is mental health expert, personality scientist, and TEDx speaker who busts myth that personality is set in stone. Expert Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Specialized mental health services for anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder. Evidence-based therapy tailored to help clients feel better and live a more fulfilling life. Personality Coaching for Goal Achievement

: Develop the traits and skills needed to reach your personal and professional goals with personalized, growth-oriented coaching. Supervision, Consultation, and Training for Mental Health Providers: Expert guidance in CBT, Unified Protocol, and BPD Compass. Training workshops available for therapists seeking advanced, evidence-based methods. Certification programs and program implementation also available.

"What you do here changes lives and I want you to know it means something."The BPD Compass Workbook, based on the treatm...
04/28/2026

"What you do here changes lives and I want you to know it means something."

The BPD Compass Workbook, based on the treatment my team developed, is being published soon. I've been going through all the feedback we've received from clients in our clinical trial as I build the pre-order page.

And now I'm crying grateful tears for the clients who took a chance on an unknown study treatment and for the therapists who put so much into the care they gave ❤️

Comment "BPD" for the pre-order link.

And send this to someone you know who has BPD ❤️

It's treatable.
Faster than you think.

What an inspiring few days in Toronto sharing space with so many people who care as much about improving treatment for p...
04/26/2026

What an inspiring few days in Toronto sharing space with so many people who care as much about improving treatment for people with personality disorders as we do!

I’m endlessly proud of my graduate students ( and Cheyene Horner who shared their findings with our research community.

I was also grateful to share our personality-focused treatment with the community of therapists and people with lived experience who attended the conference!

I’m leaving Toronto feeling so hopeful!

04/25/2026

If you’re not following through, it’s usually not because you don’t care.

Your brain is trained to operate on autopilot by prioritizing what feels good in the moment

Not what's better for you in the long-term.

What patterns or behaviors do you keep repeating, even though you know they don't serve you?

You just need to “stop overthinking.”But the more you try to push thoughts away…the louder they get.It’s not because you...
04/23/2026

You just need to “stop overthinking.”

But the more you try to push thoughts away…
the louder they get.

It’s not because you lack discipline.
It’s because your brain treats avoidance like a priority.

When you label a thought or feeling as something to escape,
your mind keeps checking back in to make sure you’re “handling it.”

Which means you keep thinking about it.

In my newest blog, I break down:
→ why avoiding thoughts makes them stick around longer
→ the subtle ways avoidance shows up (like procrastination)
→ how small shifts help emotions pass more easily

You don’t need to get rid of your emotions.
You need a different way of responding to them.

Read the full blog here: https://tinyurl.com/avoid-your-emotions

“Just calm down.”For most people I work with, those three words make everything harder.Not because they don’t want to fe...
04/21/2026

“Just calm down.”

For most people I work with, those three words make everything harder.

Not because they don’t want to feel calm
but because pushing away emotional messages make your body work even hard to pass them along.

And this is where most advice completely misses.

You don’t struggle because you feel deeply.
You struggle because no one has shown you how to work with that depth.

So you try to override it.
Suppress it.
Outthink it.

And your system pushes back harder.

The shift isn’t in becoming less emotional.
It’s in understanding what your body is actually doing and meeting it in a way that allows it to move.

This is the difference between feeling overwhelmed by your body
and finally feeling safe inside it.

If you want to actually understand how your mind works (and why you respond the way you do under stress), comment TEST and I’ll send you a free, science-based personality assessment.

Save this for the next time “just calm down” makes you feel like you’re failing 💛

Anxious. Easily hurt. Slow to bounce back from stress.Most people assume these are signs of something fundamentally wron...
04/17/2026

Anxious. Easily hurt. Slow to bounce back from stress.

Most people assume these are signs of something fundamentally wrong with their personality.

But according to personality science, sensitivity itself isn't what creates the overwhelm. It's the pattern of avoiding the feelings that come with it.

When you stop trying to escape your emotions, something counterintuitive happens: you actually feel them less intensely over time.

Facing them gives you data that your feelings are temporary, that having a strong reaction doesn't mean something bad will happen, and that you can handle more than you think.

The sensitivity doesn't disappear. It just stops being in charge.

In this week's blog, I share why avoidance backfires and what to do instead.

Check it out here: https://tinyurl.com/you-are-not-too-sensitive

You want close relationships.But trusting people feels hard?It’s not because you’re “bad at relationships.”It’s because ...
04/07/2026

You want close relationships.

But trusting people feels hard?

It’s not because you’re “bad at relationships.”
It’s because your brain learned patterns to protect you
and now they’re showing up in your current relationships

In my newest blog, I break down:
→ why you pull back when things start to feel real (or vulnerable)
→ how trust patterns develop
→ and how to start shifting them (without forcing yourself to “just be more open”)

Check it out here: https://tinyurl.com/struggle-with-trust

Personality tests are everywhere.The results can feel surprisingly accurate.You read them and think: “Yep… that checks o...
03/25/2026

Personality tests are everywhere.

The results can feel surprisingly accurate.
You read them and think: “Yep… that checks out.”

But then what?

Most personality assessments are designed to describe your patterns, not help you do anything differently with that information.

So the insight either fades away…
or it quietly turns into a label you carry around:

“I’m just not an assertive person.”
“I’m a perfectionist, that’s why I do this.”
“I’m an introvert, so networking isn’t really for me.”

But personality traits aren’t life sentences.

They’re patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that developed over time—and patterns can shift when we intentionally practice new responses.

The real value of personality insight is figuring out:

Given my tendencies, what’s the best next step for me? How can I pursue my goals even if my traits don't naturally make it easy?

That’s exactly what the Trait Alignment Compass is designed to help with.

Ready to put your personality test to good use and take your BEST NEXT STEP? https://tinyurl.com/mosttests

Some personality traits are better than others, right?Conscientious. Easy-going. Confident. Surely it's always a good id...
03/23/2026

Some personality traits are better than others, right?

Conscientious. Easy-going. Confident. Surely it's always a good idea to embrace these qualities.

But according to personality science, it's not quite so simple.

Whether personality traits help or hinder largely depends on fit with your goals.

In this week's Personality Compass Article, I share how to lean into the traits that are right for YOU... https://tinyurl.com/thehiddencost

Your best personality traits might also be your biggest blind spots.Every trait that helps you succeed also has a tippin...
03/18/2026

Your best personality traits might also be your biggest blind spots.

Every trait that helps you succeed also has a tipping point.

Being conscientious can turn into perfectionism.

Being agreeable can become people-pleasing.

Being extraverted can drift into attention-seeking or impulsive decisions.

Being emotionally stable can come across as distant or overly quick to “fix” problems.

We can't assume that being strong in these "positive" traits is a uniformly good thing.

The first question you should be asking yourself is whether your current patterns are aligned with the situation you're in and the life you're trying to build.

The immediate next question is this: If my traits are making it harder to pursue my goals, what am I going to do about it.

The science is incredibly clear - we can shift or nudge the traits that no longer serve us.

We can intentionally cultivate the traits that can bring us closer to the life we want.

What's shift would you make?

Here's how: https://tinyurl.com/Edit-tipping-point

The old way of thinking about personality is probably holding you back.For decades, we treated personality as something ...
03/16/2026

The old way of thinking about personality is probably holding you back.

For decades, we treated personality as something fixed—an underlying essence that determined how we think, behave, and what paths in life “fit” us.

But modern personality science tells a very different story.

Traits don’t determine your future. They summarize patterns you’ve practiced in the past—and patterns can change.

In this week’s newsletter, I explain the new science of personality and why psychologists increasingly view traits as something we can intentionally shape.

You can read the full piece here: https://tinyurl.com/the-new-science

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