Fight-Flight-Freeze-Fawn… I’m a freezer 🥶

Studio Hacks:

Fight-Flight-Freeze-Fawn

Ever found yourself in that whirlwind of surprise during a confrontation? Your body seems to take over—skin tingles, brain fogs, heart races, and comebacks disappear into thin air. It's frustrating, right?

Welcome to Amygdala Hijacking.

Here’s the scoop: Humans have this evolved Prefrontal Cortex—the ‘thinking’ part of our brain.

But lurking beneath is our primitive brain, always on threat watch with the amygdala and hypothalamus.

When danger is sensed, our survival mechanism—the HPA-Axis—kicks in, flooding our bodies with stress hormones.

This survival response diverts blood from your thinking brain to your muscles. So that ‘stuck’ feeling during confrontation? It’s not a personal flaw—it’s primal survival instinct.

Understanding this science helps stop self-diagnosing as ‘conflict-averse’ and equips you to manage your brain’s auto-response.

Failure is part of the process. Success is built on a pile of failures.

With time and practice, you’ll learn to respond intentionally with your thinking brain.

Success lies in learning to manage your mind.

Remember, your brain seeks comfort, avoids discomfort, and conserves energy. Don’t let it run the show—take back control and start managing your mind today.

For more insights, tune in to my first podcast episodes where I delve deeper into the neurophysiological aspects of conflict avoidance and share tools to master your mind. I will be launching weekly podcast episodes this Summer, 2024.

Talk to you next time & stay tuned for more Studio Hacks!

~C

Texas Spiritual Counseling

Dr. Charlie M. Hornes, DMin, BCC, MCPC, is a Doctor of Ministry, Board Certified Chaplain, ordained PC(USA) minister, and clinical spiritual care provider offering pastoral counseling and clinical spiritual counseling for adults across Texas.

Her work supports people navigating grief, anger at God, moral injury, church harm, faith crisis, disaster exposure, hard decisions, caregiver burden, and spiritual distress that does not fit neatly into therapy or ordinary religious advice.

With more than two decades of experience in hospital chaplaincy, crisis response, palliative care, grief care, higher education, and leadership environments, Dr. Hornes provides private-pay spiritual care that is grounded, direct, and referral-aware.

Texas Spiritual Counseling is not psychotherapy, diagnosis, medical care, psychiatric care, emergency care, or treatment of mental-health disorders.

Learn more at texasspiritualcounseling.com or listen on YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform @charliehornescoaching

https://www.texasspiritualcounseling.com/
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Why “Burnout” is a Dirty Word for Women