Escaping the Fawn Response with Meg Josephson | Being Well

Video Description

Therapist Meg Josephson and I explore the fawn response, a survival strategy where safety is sought by pleasing other people. We discuss how fawning can start as self-protection in childhood, but later morph into overthinking, hypervigilance, and self-abandonment. Meg shares her own experience, including how fawning creates resentment and makes it difficult to find a healthy relationship or figure out your authentic needs. Topics include becoming aware of unconscious habits, building distress tolerance, grief, self-compassion, healthy boundaries, and speaking up for ourselves. Key Topics: 0:00 Introduction 1:18 Self-sabotage as self-protection 4:01 Bringing the unconscious fawn response into awareness 9:51 Silencing wants and needs, conflict avoidance, and resentment 14:33 Rediscovering wants and needs after people pleasing 18:05 The healing arc: grief, anger, and relationship 25:30 Viewing people pleasing as a “part” rather than an identity 30:11 Nice vs. compassionate 51:36 Hypervigilance and the NICER practice 57:22 Authenticity as “uncovering” rather than “fixing” 1:03:02 Recap Subscribe to Being Well on: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/being-well-with-dr-rick-hanson/id1120885936 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5d87ZU1XY0fpdYNSEwXLVQ Who Am I: I'm Forrest, the co-author of Resilient (https://amzn.to/3iXLerD) and host of the Being Well Podcast (https://apple.co/38ufGG0). I'm making videos focused on simplifying psychology, mental health, and personal growth. Subscribe to Rick on YouTube: http://youtube.com/@RickHanson?sub_confirmation=1 Get Rick's Free Newsletters: https://rickhanson.com/writings/newsletters-from-dr-rick-hanson/ Follow Rick Here: 🌍 https://rickhanson.com/ 📸 https://www.instagram.com/rickhansonphd I'm not a clinician, and what I say on this channel should not be taken as medical advice. You can follow me here: 🎤 https://apple.co/38ufGG0 🌍 https://www.forresthanson.com 📸 https://www.instagram.com/f.hanson