This week on ShrinkChicks, Em and Jen continue their trauma response series with a deep dive into the fight response: what it is, why it develops, and how it shows up in everyday life. Often misunderstood and heavily judged, the fight response is a nervous system survival strategy rooted in mobilization, power, and protection.

They explore how fight can look like anger, defensiveness, control, irritability, or needing to win, especially for people who learned early on that being loud or strong was the only way to be heard. Em shares how fight shows up in her own body, why it’s often reinforced by systems that reward dominance, and how neglecting basic needs can lower the threshold for activation.

Listener questions focus on recognizing when you’re in a fight state, coming down from it in real time, and unlearning the belief that conflict is the only path to safety. Em and Jen offer practical tools for regulating the body, slowing conversations, and building new relational pathways without shaming a response that once served a purpose.

Tune in to gain insight, awareness, and action! PS: Fast forward to around 4:30 to skip the intro and get straight to today’s content.

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