Most people know "fight or flight". Trauma research has expanded the picture: there are four primary survival responses, each one an automatic strategy the nervous system deploys when threat is detected.
1. Fight
Confrontation. Aggression. Argument. Verbal attack. In its trauma-driven form, fight is not strategic — it is reflexive. Small interpersonal triggers produce disproportionate anger. Many people labelled "difficult" or "explosive" are running a fight response that was originally protective.
2. Flight
Escape. Avoidance. Workaholism. Constant motion. Restlessness. The flight response keeps the body moving so the threat cannot land. People dominated by flight often present as high-functioning anxious — productive, distracted, unable to sit still.
3. Freeze
Immobilisation. Dissociation. Going blank. Mind going still. The body decides movement is impossible and shuts down to wait the threat out. Freeze is often misread as laziness or apathy. It is neither — it is the deepest survival reflex the body has.
4. Fawn
Appeasement. People-pleasing. Compulsive over-accommodation. Saying yes when you mean no. Apologising for everything. The fawn response was first formally described by Pete Walker. It develops in people whose early environment was unsafe and where conflict was dangerous — the body learned that aligning with the threat was the safest path.
Why your dominant pattern matters
Most trauma survivors have one or two dominant responses and one or two suppressed. Recognising yours is the start of choosing differently — instead of reacting reflexively, you begin to notice the response in real time and then to act.
Where the anxiety response sits
All four trauma responses are produced by the same underlying system: a sensitised threat-detection network. When that system normalises, the responses become available as choices again, instead of automatic reflexes.
LAR Coaching addresses that underlying response. We work alongside trauma-focused clinical care for the relational and cognitive work that complements the physiological recovery.
The next step
If any of this resonates, book a free 30-minute Recovery Call with one of our LAR Coaches. No pressure, no obligation — just a real conversation about what is happening to you and whether the LAR programme is the right fit. Sessions are delivered worldwide via Zoom, Phone or FaceTime.
