Alison Papion, LMFT

If you've ever tried to tell your story and found yourself saying "I can't remember it clearly" or "it comes in pieces" or "I'm not even sure if what I remember is real" — I want you to hear this first: that is not a sign that something is wrong with you. It is a sign that your brain did exactly what it was designed to do.

If you're the friend who always says yes, even when you don't want to. If you apologize for things that aren't your fault. If you've spent years shrinking yourself to keep the peace — there's a name for this pattern, and it isn't a personality flaw. It's a trauma response called fawning. Beyond Fight, Flight, and Freeze Most of us have heard of fight, flight, and freeze — the body's automatic responses to danger. But there's a fourth response that gets far less attention, even though it's...

If the thought of setting a boundary makes your stomach drop — you're not broken, and you're not alone. For so many of us, boundaries don't feel like self-care. They feel like danger. There's a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with your character. We Were Taught Not to Make Other People Feel Badly Most of us didn't grow up learning that our needs were valid simply because they were ours. Instead, many of us learned — explicitly or through example — that keeping the peace meant...