What does it mean to fawn—and how can we begin to heal this trauma response?

In this episode of Let’s Talk Love, Robin sits down with licensed clinical psychologist and author Dr. Ingrid Clayton to explore the fawn response, a survival pattern that develops as a way to stay safe in unsafe environments. Drawing from her professional work, therapy practice, and lived experience, Dr. Ingrid shares how fawning shows up in relationships through people-pleasing, over-accommodating, or losing your voice—and how understanding this trauma response, often rooted in complex trauma, can help us move from self-blame to self-awareness, personal growth, and healing.

Robin and Dr. Ingrid share personal stories and insights as they unpack how early experiences and attachment wounds shape the ways we seek love, safety, and connection. They talk about the process of“unfawning” by noticing your body’s cues, rebuilding self-trust, setting healthier boundaries, and learning what safety feels like from the inside out. This conversation reminds us that healing begins with awareness—recognizing how the patterns that once kept us safe can also hold us back, and how seeing them with compassion can open the door to new ways of showing up for ourselves and those we love.

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Links:

Book - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/779579/fawning-by-dr-ingrid-clayton/

Website - https://www.ingridclayton.com/

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Dr. Ingrid Clayton - The Fawn Response