The fawn response

• Card 1

  Alongside fight, flight and freeze, some describe a fourth trauma response: fawn. Instead of confronting, escaping or shutting down, fawning moves toward the source of threat and tries to soothe it — appeasing, agreeing, and prioritising someone else's comfort in order to reduce danger.

• Card 2

  The fawn response can look like

  • Instantly agreeing with someone, even when you don't
  • Scanning a room or a face for signs of tension before you've spoken
  • Feeling responsible for other people's moods
  • A reflex to comfort someone who has upset you
  • Difficulty identifying what you feel, only what others might feel

• Card 3

  Fawning is not weakness — it is often a highly effective way of surviving situations where confronting or escaping wasn't possible or safe.

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