Functional freeze and regulation

Many people with a history of developmental trauma may look calm and collected. This is because they are very used to living in a state of functional freeze, and almost too close to shutdown. Dissociation is a common response for them.

A big misconception about regulation is that we tend to think once we are regulated we will always look calm and collected.

This is not true, and because of this many people who need help with nervous system regulation, specially those with developmental trauma, may go through many practitioners and therapeutic modalities without getting the help they need, because they seem to “have it together.”

Effective help in this case starts:

🌿By creating a safe space for the client to start building up their own resources.

🌿By helping them get in touch with their nervous system patterns.

🌿Providing somatic psychoeducation.

🌿Supporting them in learning what they need moment to moment.

🌿Inviting them to honour their own biology with self-compassion.

🌿Helping them getting back into their bodies, gently, little by little.

🌿It’s about bringing a sense of safety, regulation and more capacity to the system first, before adding anything else to the mix.

For those of us with this type of profile, the healing needs to be done gently and with an extra amount of titration (in small doses).

If this is you, it’s important to have this knowledge, to use as a guide when you decide to look for support in your healing journey.

As Dr Peter Levine always says: “Less is more” in trauma resolution work, and this is even more important in cases of functional freeze.