Fight, Flight, or Freeze

A group for people who want to know themselves better

Our bodies are magnificently adaptable to different situations.  One of the ways they adapt is through the survival responses known as "fight", "flight", and "freeze", states. These responses are intended to move us through danger and then out of danger in very specific ways.  Once the danger is handled, ideally our body should bring us back to a state of relative safety or ease.

As we move through life, we might find that some of these states get activated very easily, more easily than we like, and others may have difficulty activating at all.  "Fight" is a useful state in certain situations, but it's not ideal to experience in all situations.  Even "safety", while great in safe situations, can be counterproductive when there is danger that needs to be handled.

In this 4-session group we will learn to recognize what these different nervous system states feel like, and how they present in us individually.  Then, perhaps most importantly, we'll explore different tools and techniques to help us navigate these states.  We'll try out different ways of stepping in and out of these states, or simply allowing them to shift and get unstuck, so that our bodies can have more options and choices as they help us handle the challenges of life.

Each group session will focus on a different state, and will be a blend of discussion and gentle experiments where you can try these tools and techniques and see which ones work best for you.