The Five Trauma Responses: Understanding Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Flop

When we think of trauma, we often imagine a moment of crisis; but trauma isn’t just what happens to us. It’s what happens inside us when we’re overwhelmed, helpless, or afraid. Our nervous system, shaped by both early experiences and repeated stress, develops strategies for survival. These strategies: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, and Flop, are not signs of weakness or dysfunction. They are adaptations. They are intelligence. But when left unexamined, they can also become barriers to thriving.

In The Alchemy Theory and Treatment Protocol (ATTP), we understand these trauma responses as embodied rituals of protection, designed to keep us safe in the moment but often misfiring long after the threat is gone. Let’s explore what they are, how they show up in daily life, and how to develop responses that support your growth rather than keep you stuck in old survival scripts.

What Are the Five Trauma Responses?

Fight: This is the instinct to confront the threat. It can look like defensiveness, irritability, anger, or a need to control. It often arises when power feels threatened.

Flight: The impulse to escape. It can show up as overworking, perfectionism, anxiety, or avoiding conflict. Flight says: “If I stay busy or stay away, I’ll be safe.”

Freeze: This is the internal “pause” button. It shows up as dissociation, numbing, indecision, or a sense of being emotionally paralyzed. Freeze protects by shutting us down.

Fawn: The urge to appease. It looks like people-pleasing, boundary collapse, or self-abandonment. Fawn says: “If I stay small and agreeable, maybe I won’t be hurt.”

Flop: A lesser-known but vital response, flop is a collapse response; playing dead, physically or emotionally shutting down to such an extent that movement, thought, or speech feels impossible. It’s the body’s final safety mechanism when all others fail.

Why These Responses Happen

Trauma responses aren’t chosen. They’re reflexive. They arise when the nervous system perceives a threat, real or imagined, and chooses the path that feels most likely to protect you. If you were raised in chaos, inconsistency, neglect, or harm, your nervous system adapted early to keep you alive. These responses aren’t random. They’re rituals of survival. But what protected you in the past may now be disrupting your relationships, work, goals, and sense of self.

How Trauma Responses Show Up in Everyday Life

These responses aren’t limited to traumatic events. They play out in daily interactions, relationships, and even in how you relate to yourself:

Fight: Snapping at your partner when you feel misunderstood. Getting defensive in therapy.

Flight: Avoiding important conversations. Constantly staying busy to avoid discomfort.

Freeze: Staring at your to-do list for hours, unable to begin. Feeling foggy or shut down in emotional moments.

Fawn: Saying yes when you want to say no. Overexplaining. Avoiding conflict to keep the peace.

Flop: Feeling like you’ve checked out of your own life. Struggling to move, speak, or care.

These patterns are not personality flaws. They’re nervous system rituals. But they don’t have to be permanent.

The Impact of Unexamined Trauma Responses

When these responses become habitual, they can lead to:

• Chronic stress or burnout

• Relationship conflict or disconnection

• Low self-worth or shame

• Emotional numbing or volatility

• Lost sense of agency or identity

Without support, many people cycle between responses; fighting in one moment, freezing in the next, fawning after. Over time, this erodes trust in oneself and others.

Moving Toward Healing: Reclaiming Response Over Reflex

In ATTP, we believe healing begins with awareness. When you understand your trauma response, you reclaim the ability to choose something different. That’s alchemy; transforming survival patterns into conscious presence.

Here are ways to begin that transformation:

Name Your Pattern Without Judgment

Say to yourself: “This is a trauma response. It makes sense that it’s here.” Naming it creates space between the response and your identity.

Track the Sensory Experience

Each trauma response has a physiological signature. Fight may feel hot and tense. Freeze may feel heavy and numb. Fawn might feel buzzy or ungrounded. Learning your body’s cues is the first step to shifting them.

Use a Grounding Ritual

In ATTP, we use rituals to reconnect the body and mind. Try:

• Placing a hand on your chest and saying, “I’m safe now.”

• Lighting a candle and breathing slowly as you stare at the flame.

• Naming 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste.

These small rituals signal safety to the nervous system.

Rewrite the Narrative

Instead of “I’m weak” or “I’m overreacting,” try:

• “This is my nervous system remembering.”

• “This was a strategy previously used to protect me.”

• “I can choose a new response now.”

Language is a powerful part of transformation.

Choose a New Response

Ask: “What would feel helpful right now; not just familiar?” Then try it. Maybe that means pausing instead of fleeing, speaking instead of fawning, or taking a breath instead of freezing. It may not feel natural at first. But it will, over time.

You Are Not Broken; You Are Adaptive

The trauma response isn’t the problem. It’s the proof that your system is trying to protect you. The goal isn’t to erase your instincts; it’s to develop awareness and agency, to expand the possible solutions, to choose for yourself, and to respond with intention. You can move from unconscious reaction to intentional response, from old roles to chosen rituals, and from protection to presence. That is where transformation begins.

If you’re ready to move beyond trauma reflexes and reconnect with the deeper, empowered self within you, The Alchemy Institute is here to support your journey.