13/06/2025
Have you watched Sirens on Netflix yet?
I finished it recently and I loved it, butâŠ
Netflix's The Show Sirens might look like glitz, glamour, and high-stakes competition on the surface, but underneath it all, it holds a mirror to something far deeper: the emotional aftermath of trauma, and the quiet survival strategies many of us learn to cope.
As a trauma-informed therapist, I couldnât help but notice the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) patterns of family dysregulation, emotional fawning, and internalised shame woven through each characterâs story.
What I Saw Beneath the Surface:
1. The Performance of 'Perfection': So many of the women in Sirens were performing far more than choreography they were performing versions of themselves that felt safe and acceptable. That need to always be âonâ, to please others, or to anticipate criticism before it lands? Thatâs often rooted in childhood experiences where love was conditional.
2. The âGood Girlâ Survival Strategy: People-pleasing, over-functioning, and avoiding conflict at all costs can be trauma responses. Especially for women raised in emotionally unpredictable environments, being good or helpful, agreeable, low maintenance becomes a way to feel safe.
3. Parentification and Invisible Roles: Several characters in Sirens took on emotional responsibility for others from a young age. This invisible caretaking where a child becomes the emotional anchor in a household is a silent form of trauma. It shapes how we connect, care and even how we burn out later in life.
4. Generational Pain: Family patterns, unspoken rules, and inherited beliefs about self-worth run deep throughout the show. We witness characters trying to break free from the scripts theyâve been handed and often without the tools or support to do so.
It resonated deeply because so many women I work with live these patterns every day. High-functioning, empathetic, capable and just plain exhausted. They are the âstrongâ ones, the âhelpersâ, the ones who donât want to let anyone down. And inside, they feel anxious, disconnected, or overwhelmed.
If you saw yourself in any of the characters in Sirens, know this:
Youâre not broken. You adapted. And healing is possible.
If anything in this post resonated with you or if parts of Sirens felt a little too close to home please know you're not alone.
I work with women navigating the quiet overwhelm of anxiety, burnout, or feeling like theyâve lost themselves under the weight of responsibility or emotional pain.
Youâre welcome to message me if youâd like to chat about what support could look like. No pressure, just a calm space.
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