About

The research, education, and support home for sensitive humans.

The Tuned In Institute makes the science of sensitivity and self-regulation practical, accessible, and lifelong, so children, teens, and adults can feel understood, regulated, and free of the belief that they are too much.

Leadership

Sophie Schauermann, MSW, LCSW

Founder & CEO, Rooted Rhythm and The Tuned In Institute

Sophie Schauermann is a licensed clinical social worker with twelve years of practice sitting alongside sensitive children, teens, adults, and the families around them. She is the author of Tuned In: A Guide for Parents of Sensitive Children and the Founder and CEO of Rooted Rhythm, the clinical practice behind this Institute.

Across more than a decade of clinical work, she watched the same pattern repeat: parents who felt confused and defeated, children who were treated as a problem to manage, and a body of research that never reached the kitchen table. The Institute exists to close that gap, turning her clinical philosophy of sensitivity into tools a family can use tonight.

Leadership

Joel Schauermann, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Rooted Rhythm and The Tuned In Institute

Joel Schauermann is a board-certified physician who brings the rigor of clinical medicine to the Institute's work on sensitivity and regulation. As Chief Medical Officer, he ensures that everything we teach is grounded in current research and sound medical practice.

He partners closely with our clinical team to bridge the gap between the science of the sensitive nervous system and the day-to-day care of the children, teens, and adults we serve, keeping our education both accurate and genuinely useful.

Leadership

Kate Schramm, MSW, LCSW

Clinical Director & Therapist, Rooted Rhythm

Kate is an attuned, empathetic therapist with over a decade of experience supporting children, bringing creativity, curiosity, and playfulness into her work. She specializes in early childhood, primarily children ages 2 through 10 navigating ADHD, anxiety, trauma, and the caregiver-child relationship, building a therapeutic relationship rooted in mutual trust, respect, and safety.

As Clinical Director, she provides clinical leadership, supports program development, and mentors clinicians as they grow their own practices. Kate earned her degree in psychology from Elon University and her MSW from New York University, and integrates Child-Centered Play Therapy, Synergetic Play Therapy, and CBT into her relational, developmentally attuned approach.

Leadership

Katie Pendergast

Director of Systems & Experience

Katie is deeply connected to the mission of the Tuned In Institute, both personally and professionally. As a highly sensitive person herself, she understands the impact that self-awareness, support, and the right tools can have on a person's ability to thrive. With a background in child psychology, mindfulness meditation, web development, and user experience design, she has built her career at the intersection of human connection and systems thinking, believing that thoughtful systems create more space for meaningful care.

As Practice Director at Rooted Rhythm Therapy, Katie has helped build the operational infrastructure that supports clinicians, children, and families across multiple states. At the Tuned In Institute, she brings that same passion for creating people-centered systems and experiences that make transformative resources, education, and support more accessible to sensitive individuals and families. She is honored to support a mission that resonates deeply with her own journey and helps more sensitive people find the understanding, connection, and tools they need to thrive.

Mission

To make the science of sensitivity and self-regulation practical, accessible, and lifelong, so people of every age grow up understood, regulated, and free of the belief that they are too much.

Vision

A world in which sensitivity is recognized as a strength, taught as a skill, and supported across every stage of life.

Promise

You walk away with two things: a more accurate map of what is happening inside a sensitive nervous system, and the next concrete step you can take tonight.

Core belief

“Sensitivity is not a flaw. It is a different operating system. The work is to understand it, not to fix it.”