08/22/2025
🧊 The Freeze Response: When You Can’t Speak or Move During Stress
“It’s not ‘shutting down’—it’s biology. Freeze is a trauma response too. There’s nothing wrong with you.” If you’ve ever gone numb, zoned out, or gone quiet in the middle of a stressful moment you’ve likely experienced the freeze response.
It’s not a failure. It’s your nervous system doing exactly what it was designed to do when it doesn’t feel safe.
❄️ What Freeze Can Look Like:
• Feeling paralyzed during arguments
• Going blank when asked what you need
• Shutting down emotionally in public or at work
• Spacing out, feeling disconnected from your body
• Feeling foggy, like you’re watching life from the outside
🤍 You are not broken. You are protecting yourself.
And with support, you can shift into safety again.
🌱 5 Ways to Support Yourself Out of Freeze:
1. Start With Sensation, Not Logic Trying to “think your way out” of freeze rarely works.
Instead, bring awareness to your body: Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly.
Feel the pressure. No need to fix—just notice.
2. Micro-Movements Help Freeze locks up the body. Even small movement matters. Wiggle your fingers, Rock side to side, Press your feet into the floor
3. Use Cold or Texture to Reconnect Freeze dulls your sense of presence.
Try: Holding an ice cube
Splashing cool water
Touching a textured object (stone, fabric, etc.)
4. Speak to Yourself Like a Safe Person
“You’re doing your best.”
“You don’t have to move yet.”
“This feeling won’t last forever.”
Your nervous system is always listening. Speak softness.
5. Try Brain-Based Trauma Therapy (like ART) With Accelerated Resolution Therapy, you can clear stuck trauma patterns like freeze—without needing to talk through every detail.
🌿 In our Tampa and Jacksonville office, we support clients with trauma, loss, and emotional shutdown.
You’re not too much. You’re not too late. You’re simply a nervous system doing what it had to do to survive. And now, you get to heal. 🤍
