Have you ever found yourself snapping in anger, withdrawing from others, feeling frozen or shut down, or saying ‘yes’ when you really mean ‘no’? These reactions may not just be personality quirks or emotional habits—they may be trauma responses hardwired into your nervous system. Understanding them is a powerful step toward healing.
What Are Trauma Responses?
Trauma responses are automatic, instinctive reactions your body and brain use to protect you in times of danger. They’re part of your survival system, deeply rooted in the nervous system. When you perceive a threat, your body chooses one of four main responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn.
The Four F’s: How They Show Up
1. Fight – This response energizes you to confront the threat. It might look like irritability, yelling, arguing, or controlling behavior. In trauma survivors, fight mode can be a shield against vulnerability.
2. Flight – This response urges you to escape the situation. It might show up as overworking, restlessness, anxiety, or excessive busyness.
3. Freeze – This is the body’s way of playing dead to stay safe. You may feel numb, dissociated, paralyzed, or zoned out. It often accompanies early childhood trauma or experiences where escape wasn’t possible.
4. Fawn – This lesser-known response involves people-pleasing or over-accommodating others to avoid conflict. It’s common among those who grew up in environments where love and safety were conditional.
Why These Responses Linger
Even long after the danger has passed, your nervous system may still react as if you're under threat. This is especially true if the trauma was never processed or if it occurred repeatedly over time. Your brain becomes wired to expect danger—and your body keeps responding.
This isn’t your fault. It’s a survival adaptation. And it can be changed through awareness, support, and somatic healing.
Somatic Therapy: Rewiring the Nervous System
Because trauma lives in the body, healing must also involve the body. Somatic therapy works by gently teaching your nervous system new ways of responding. Through breathwork, movement, grounding techniques, and guided awareness, you can begin to regulate your responses and come out of survival mode.
Somatic modalities like Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing, and Dance/Movement Therapy help us understand how to move from fight, flight, freeze, or fawn into what’s known as the ‘ventral vagal state’—a place of safety, social connection, and presence.
Real-Life Impact of Trauma Response Work
Clients often report feeling more present, empowered, and emotionally resilient as they begin to identify and shift their trauma responses. For example:
- Someone who used to flee through workaholism learns to pause, breathe, and rest.
- A person stuck in freeze starts feeling sensations and emotions again.
- A fawner learns to set boundaries and say ‘no’ without shame.
This isn’t just about coping. It’s about creating real, lasting change in how you live and relate to others.
You're Not Broken—You're Adapted
These patterns were once necessary for survival. They’re intelligent. But they’re no longer serving you—and they don’t have to define you. Therapy offers a safe space to explore these responses, understand their origins, and practice new ways of being.
Learn More About Nervous System Healing
We believe in empowering clients with tools, education, and compassionate support. If you're curious about somatic therapy and trauma-informed care to help heal your your nervous system, reach out to us. Our clinicians have over 15 years of experience as Somatic Therapists for Trauma and hold master’s degrees in Dance/Movement Therpay. We move through it together.
Schedule a phone consultation to discuss to your needs.