How Trauma Responses Lead to People-Pleasing and How to Start Healing with Kati Morton

Have you ever felt lost after putting all your effort into pleasing others? 
Maybe you’ve spent years being the responsible one, the strong one, the helper, the one who “just handles it”… until one day you wake up and feel hollow. Exhausted.  Disconnected from the person you used to be.

Maybe you’ve spent years trying to “doing it all”,  only to wake up one day and wonder where you lost yourself along the way? 

In this episode, I sit down with Kati Morton, licensed therapist, author, and one of the most trusted mental health voices online. Her new book, Why Do I Keep Doing This?, dives into the emotional and nervous system patterns that keep us stuck in cycles of people-pleasing, low self-esteem, overgiving, perfectionism, and self-abandonment.

Together, we explore how unresolved trauma responses shape our beliefs about love, worth, confidence, and why so many of us feel like we need to be “good” or “please others” to feel safe. Together Kati and I discuss what a fawn response is,  the deeper reasons why we fawn or people-please and the emotional cost it takes on us.

You’ll learn:

• Why people pleasing begins as a survival strategy
• Why rebuilding self worth is about changing patterns
• What your inner critic is trying to protect you from
• How to spot patterns that lead to burnout and resentment
• Why confidence grows through small acts of self trust
• The difference between guilt and false guilt in boundary setting
• How somatic practices support healing and resilience
• Practical tools to regulate stress and shift old patterns

If you’re in a season of personal growth, or if you’re tired of feeling exhausted, overlooked, or in cycles of self-doubt, this episode will offer compassion, clarity, and a path home to yourself.
Tune in. This conversation is a breath of fresh air for anyone ready to reclaim the parts of themselves they had to hide to survive.

Much love,
Laurie

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DISCLAIMER: THE COMMENTARY AND OPINIONS AVAILABLE ON THIS PODCAST ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING LEGAL, MEDICAL OR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LICENSED THERAPIST IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. YOU SHOULD CONTACT AN ATTORNEY IN YOUR STATE TO OBTAIN LEGAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WITH RESPECT TO ANY MEDICAL ISSUE OR PROBLEM.