Everyday Better with Leah Smart Are You Abandoning Yourself to Avoid Conflict? This Survival Instinct Might Be the Culprit
Oct 7, 2025
Meg Josephson, a psychotherapist and author specializing in people-pleasing and boundaries, delves into the often-overlooked survival instinct of 'fawning.' She explains how this response leads to people-pleasing behaviors, impacting self-trust and relationships. Meg shares signs of fawning, why it has become more prevalent in modern society, and the challenging journey to healing. She emphasizes the importance of navigating conflict and understanding boundaries to reclaim personal safety and autonomy.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Fawn Is A Safety-Seeking Response
- The fawn response means seeking safety by pleasing others until you feel safe.
- It temporarily reduces anxiety by getting external validation but reinforces hypervigilance.
Author's Personal Formation Story
- Meg Josephson shares her own history of growing up with addiction and volatility that taught hypervigilance.
- That early pattern carried into adulthood as chronic overthinking and people-pleasing.
Begin Healing With Awareness
- Start healing by building awareness of when you're abandoning yourself to keep the peace.
- Notice when you disconnect from your wants and begin to tune back in to yourself.
