Mentoring individuals who are gifted, talented, and creative, but somewhat emotionally sensitive is a challenging and provocative arena. Several reasons individuals experience heightened sensitivity include: lack of nurturing, abuse, alcoholism in the family, low self-esteem, unrealistic parental expectations, and parental pressure to achieve. Alexithymia is defined as a condition in which children do not seem to experience emotions, or the emotions are expressed through physical symptoms (i.e., ulcers, high blood pressure, and headaches). How this condition effects individuals in adulthood is described. Individual differences in sensitivity to feedback may result from learned differences in mental models of the self. This affects the ways in which individuals function. The paper discusses several defensive behaviors of emotionally sensitive individuals and explains how mentors can best respond to them. Eleven specific suggestions for mentors working with this population are provided. Coping skills that mentors can teach to emotionally sensitive people are listed. (MKA)