How Trauma Responses Sabotage You + What to Do Instead

April 15, 2025

Falsely accused of something you didn’t do? Learn how trauma responses like fight, flight, freeze, and fawn impact your ability to respond clearly and calmly—and what you can do to take back control. In this episode, we explore how trauma responses affect your nervous system and communication, and how to find your voice and power after a triggering event. 💥

Whether you freeze up, lash out, or try to fix everything, your trauma response matters. Understanding these patterns gives you the tools to respond with clarity and strength.

We talk about how trauma responses, false accusations, and nervous system regulation all intersect—and how you can reclaim self-trust, regulate your body, and respond from a grounded place. This episode is for anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, shut down, or overwhelmed by being falsely accused.

You’ll walk away with powerful tools for self-regulation, journaling, and navigating RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) and emotional spirals with compassion. 💫

👉 If this resonates, hit Subscribe and share this episode with a friend who needs support. 💬

🧠 Topics covered include:

Trauma response to false accusations (fight, flight, freeze, fawn)
How to regulate your nervous system during conflict
Journaling + self-reflection tools for recovery
Navigating RSD and emotional spirals
Creating safety to reclaim your truth

🎧 Join us in the Neuro Tribe for deeper support: https://theresa-minnoch.mykajabi.com/offers/2FRhYLin/checkout

❤️‍🔥 You're not alone. Let's do this together.

✅ KEY TAKEAWAYS:

🔥 Recognize your trauma response to false accusations—fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
🧘 Regulate your nervous system before reacting: pause, walk away, and get grounded.
📓 Use journaling or meditation to process when you can’t resolve things face-to-face.
💬 RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) spirals can be soothed with support and tools.
🧠 False accusations can be a catalyst to reclaim self-trust and personal power.

🔍Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Recap
00:15 Understanding Trauma Responses
01:35 Dealing with Trauma Responses
03:16 Seeking Support and Empowerment
03:55 Invitation to Join the Neuro Tribe

#RSD #TRAUMARESPONSE #RejectionSensitivityDysmorphia #ADHD #Autism #Neurodiveregnt

Episode Transcript

Your Peace
===

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Neuro Tribe, the podcast where authenticity meets empowerment. Your host, Theresa, is a certified business executive and life coach navigating the intricate tapestry of neurodiversity. She's someone blessed with a DHD and dyslexia and gifted a widow and a mother. To four incredible Neurodiverse children.

So each episode of the Neuro Tribe is an intimate exploration of life, love, business, and parenting through the lens of neurodiversity. Subscribe to the Neuro tribe on your favorite podcast platform or on YouTube and never miss a story. And if you really like this show, be sure to like, subscribe, rate, and of course share the podcast with anyone.

Who needs to hear it? Join us on this unfiltered journey where no topic is too challenging, [00:01:00] no triumph, too small. Let's unravel the layers of our community's experiences, embracing the struggles, celebrating the gifts, and finding empowerment and authenticity in every episode. And let's start right now.

False accusations: Hey friends, welcome back. If you didn't get last week's episode, please do go back and listen to it. We talked about what happens when you get falsely accused of something that you didn't do. One thing that I wanted to talk about is what can happen if we have a trauma response to being accused, and as we know, trauma responses are, fight flight, fawn freeze, right?

It can be that we get accused of something and. We completely freeze and we don't talk at all, and we don't defend ourselves. We don't respond at all to the [00:02:00] accusation. It can be that our natural instinct is to fight and argue back and yell or. Take a stand to have that altercation and have the other person take back their words, right?

It can be that we fall into a people pleasing mode where we completely agree. With what they said, because in our mind we think there has to be something in what they're saying. It has to be true. So I feel sorry that they are thinking those things of me. Whatever your trauma response is on the accusation coming towards you.

So what happens if you get this trauma response?

It could be that your reaction is to try and fix it [00:03:00] and giving yourself that time to be able to walk away, to neutralize yourself, to get your body back to the parasympathetic so you can get your brain back online and start thinking logically through it.

Once you are able to get out of the trauma response and go back to have the conversation where you are thinking logically and can respond, can be very helpful to be able to talk it through. If you are in a situation where you can't talk it out, you can't have that conversation where you come to an understanding, being able to walk away and work it out on your own, whether it's journaling or through meditation or sorting through your own feelings can be very helpful because if you're in a situation where you are being falsely accused and the accuser doesn't [00:04:00] want to hear or even work through the situation or scenario, that is when you get to do your own work and really work to empower yourself.

If you notice that you are in a place where you are. Spiraling and you are spiraling in RSD and pain and feeling misunderstood, and it is taking you to a place that's very uncomfortable. That is a good time. To seek out help, seek out your trusted ones. Seek out your support network, whether it is a friend or a therapist, or a coach, or coming to the neuro tribe where you have a safe place to be able to talk things through.

Sometimes it's moments like these that are invitations. Not invitations to shrink or defend, but invitations for you to dive deeper [00:05:00] into who you are and find more deeper clarity and confidence in who you are and how you show up in the world.

If you have been enjoying these episodes, I would absolutely love it. If you were to come and join us in the neuro tribe, click the link below. We'll see you in there. Bye.

How Trauma Responses Sabotage You + What to Do Instead

✅ KEY TAKEAWAYS:

🔍Timestamps:

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