Fight, Flight, Freeze… Fawn? Understanding Survival Responses with a Somatic Therapist
Have you ever wondered why your body reacts a certain way when you feel scared or stressed? Maybe you’ve felt like running away, fighting back, or just freezing in place. Or maybe you noticed yourself trying to please others so much that you forget your own needs.
These reactions are called survival responses, and they are how your body and brain protect you from danger. But sometimes, these survival responses don’t turn off, even when you’re safe. That’s when they can cause problems, like anxiety, feeling stuck, or trouble trusting others.
In this blog, we’ll explore the four main survival responses: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn and how they are related to trauma. We’ll learn how they work, why they happen, and how working with a somatic therapist can help you understand and heal from these responses. Whether you’ve heard of these terms before or this is your first time, by the end of this blog, you’ll have a clear idea of what’s happening in your body—and how to find calm again.
What Are Survival Responses?
Survival responses are the ways your body reacts to a threat. These reactions helped humans survive dangerous situations for thousands of years. When your brain senses danger, it quickly prepares your body to respond.
Here are the four main survival responses:
Fight – Standing up and defending yourself when you feel threatened.
Flight – Running away or escaping the danger.
Freeze – Becoming still or numb, like playing dead.
Fawn – Trying to please or appease others to avoid conflict or harm.
These responses happen automatically, often before you even think about them. They come from a part of your brain called the amygdala, which acts like an alarm system. When it senses danger, it sends signals to your body to get ready.
The Fight Response: Standing Your Ground
Have you ever felt so angry or scared that you just wanted to yell, hit, or push back? That’s the fight response.
The fight response is your body’s way of preparing to defend itself. You might feel your muscles tense up, your heart race, or your breathing get faster. Your body is getting ready to protect you from harm and a normal symptom of trauma.
But sometimes, people get “stuck” in fight mode. This means they feel angry or defensive even when there’s no real danger. They might react strongly to small things or feel like they have to be on guard all the time.
The Flight Response: Running Away
The flight response is when your body tells you to run away from danger. Maybe you feel like avoiding a stressful situation or just want to get out of a hard conversation. Your body might feel jittery, your heart may pound, and your legs may want to move fast.
Flight is helpful when you really need to escape, like if you’re in danger. But when flight gets stuck, people might avoid anything that feels scary or uncomfortable, even if it’s important. Running away from situations isn’t always a problem, but over time if you do it in every situation, it can cause situations to get worse, not better.
The Freeze Response: Stuck and Still
Have you ever felt so scared that you just couldn’t move or speak? That’s the freeze response.
Freezing is like playing dead. Your body becomes very still to avoid attracting attention. Your heart rate might slow down, and you might feel numb or spaced out.
Freeze is a way your body protects you when fighting or running isn’t possible. But when people get stuck in freeze mode, they might feel numb or disconnected from their feelings or the world around them. It can be hard to take action or make decisions.
The Fawn Response: People-Pleasing to Stay Safe
The fawn response might be less well-known, but it’s just as important. Fawning means trying to please or appease others to avoid conflict or harm.
If you grew up in a place where saying “no” felt dangerous, or if you had to keep others happy to stay safe, you might have learned to fawn. You might say yes even when you don’t want to, avoid sharing your true feelings, or put other people’s needs ahead of your own all the time when you experience a trauma trigger.
While fawning can keep you safe in some situations, it can also make you lose track of what you really want or need. It can cause stress, anxiety, and burnout.
What is the Point of These Responses?
These survival responses are normal and helpful in danger, but sometimes they don’t turn off. This can happen for many reasons:
You might have experienced trauma or ongoing stress.
Your brain learned these responses as a way to stay safe in a hard or unsafe environment.
Sometimes, small triggers in everyday life remind your brain of danger, even if there’s no real threat now.
When your body stays stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, it can cause problems like anxiety, depression, relationship issues, or feeling “out of control.” You might notice physical symptoms too, like muscle tension, headaches, or trouble sleeping.
How Somatic Therapy Online Helps!
Somatic therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on the connection between your body and your mind. It helps you notice what your body is doing and feeling, so you can learn to calm your survival responses and feel safer.
Unlike talk therapy, somatic therapy pays attention to things like:
How your muscles feel (tight, relaxed, tense)
Your breathing pattern (fast, shallow, slow)
Your posture (open, closed, hunched)
Physical sensations (tingling, warmth, numbness)
A somatic therapist will guide you to gently notice these sensations without judgment. This helps you get out of “survival mode” and back into a place of safety and calm.
Why Understanding Survival Responses Matters
When you understand your survival responses, you start to see that your reactions make sense. You’re not “weak” or “broken.” Your body and brain are trying to keep you safe in the best way they know how.
This understanding helps you:
Make better choices about how to respond in stressful moments
Build healthier relationships
Feel more calm and in control
Working with a somatic therapist can guide you in this process and give you tools to live a fuller, freer life.
Begin Somatic Therapy in Detroit
Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn are powerful survival responses designed to protect you. But when they get stuck, they can make life harder. Somatic therapy offers a gentle, body-based way to understand and heal these responses. If you feel like your body reacts strongly to stress or trauma, or if you find yourself constantly people-pleasing or avoiding feelings, somatic therapy might be a good fit for you. It helps you reconnect with your body and find safety inside yourself. Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Support is available, and healing is possible—one small step at a time. If you want to learn more about somatic therapy or find a therapist near you, reach out today. Your body already knows how to heal, and with the right guidance, you can start feeling calm, safe, and in control again.
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Embodied Wellness, PLLC provides online therapy in Michigan to adults and teenagers. Our therapists are trained in EMDR, DBT, empath counseling and the treatment of anxiety, depression and OCD.
About the Author:
Sarah Rollins, LMSW, SEP is the founder of Embodied Wellness, PLLC, a group therapy practice providing online therapy in Michigan. She is passionate about expanding awareness of somatic therapy as way to treat and heal trauma. She incorporates other holistic treatments into her practice including EMDR and IFS.