Trauma recovery and the nervous system: a simple map

Dr. Peggy Philips, PhD, IYI

Trauma isn’t only what happened—it’s also what your nervous system learned to do to survive. Understanding your patterns can reduce shame and increase choice.

A simple nervous system map

• Fight: irritability, urgency, anger, tight muscles

• Flight: anxiety, overthinking, restlessness, insomnia

• Freeze: numbness, disconnection, procrastination, “can’t move”

• Fawn: people-pleasing, over-agreeing, losing your own needs

What helps

Start with small regulation skills (breath, movement, orienting), then build capacity for processing and meaning-making. Healing is often layered: body, story, relationships, and spiritual integration.

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All 6 ebooks are linked from the book covers on the Home page. Click any cover to open the Amazon listing.

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