Lauren Dummit-Schock 6/22/25 Lauren Dummit-Schock 6/22/25

The Avoidance Trap: How Anxiety Grows in Silence and What Therapy Can Do to Help

The Avoidance Trap: How Anxiety Grows in Silence and What Therapy Can Do to Help

Avoidance is a natural response to anxiety, but it’s also what makes anxiety worse. Learn how anxiety hijacks the nervous system, why avoidance keeps you stuck, and how therapy offers lasting relief from chronic overwhelm, paralysis, and fear-based patterns.

Anxiety doesn’t always look like racing thoughts or panic attacks. Sometimes, it’s the invisible wall between you and the life you want to live: the unread email you dread opening, the conversation you keep postponing, or the tasks that pile up while your body shuts down. Avoidance is one of the most common and most misunderstood manifestations of anxiety. While it may offer temporary relief, it reinforces the very fear it seeks to reduce.

But how does avoidance feed anxiety? Why does it so often lead to shutdown, numbness, or even physical exhaustion? And how can therapy help interrupt the cycle?

At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we specialize in treating anxiety with a holistic, neuroscience-informed approach that integrates somatic therapy, trauma resolution, and relational healing. Let’s explore how avoidance reinforces anxiety and how therapy helps you reclaim your nervous system, your relationships, and your peace of mind.

What Is Avoidance, and Why Do We Do It?

Avoidance is the act of steering clear of situations, thoughts, emotions, or sensations that we associate with discomfort or fear. For someone with anxiety, avoidance might mean:

—- Not returning texts or emails
—- Avoiding social interactions
—- Procrastinating on essential tasks
—- Staying in bed all day
—- Distracting with substances, food, or screen time

In the short term, avoidance offers relief. But in the long term, it teaches your brain that the feared situation is, in fact, dangerous. This keeps your nervous system on high alert, reinforcing the very anxiety you’re trying to escape.

Why Avoidance Feels Like Survival

From a neuroscience perspective, avoidance is linked to the threat-detection system in the brain, specifically, the amygdala and insula, which are responsible for identifying and reacting to danger (Shin & Liberzon, 2010). When the brain perceives a threat, it activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) or the dorsal vagal branch of the parasympathetic nervous system (freeze or shutdown).

In trauma survivors, these systems are often hypersensitive. You may feel paralyzed by tasks others view as mundane. Even a simple confrontation or decision may feel like a life-or-death threat. Avoidance, then, becomes a nervous system strategy, not a character flaw.

How Avoidance Reinforces Anxiety

Here’s the paradox: the more you avoid a feared situation, the scarier it becomes.

1. The Anxiety-Avoidance Loop

Each time you avoid something that makes you anxious, your brain learns that avoidance = safety. The feared situation becomes more threatening in your mind because you’ve never given your nervous system the chance to recalibrate in its presence.

Over time, this creates a feedback loop:

Perceived threat → Avoidance → Temporary relief → Increased fear next time → More avoidance.

2. Shrinkage of Your World

What starts as a way to avoid anxiety ends up shrinking your life. You may stop going out, taking risks, pursuing relationships, or setting boundaries. Your life becomes organized around minimizing fear, not maximizing joy.

3. Reinforcement of Shame and Self-Blame

Avoidance often comes with guilt: “Why can’t I just do it?” The internal critic grows louder, and so does shame, which is also processed in the same areas of the brain impacted by trauma and anxiety (Bergland, 2013). The result? More shutdown. More freeze. More avoidance.

Dorsal Vagal Shutdown: When Anxiety Feels Like Numbness

Many people associate anxiety with overactivation, but in reality, it can also lead to underactivation, especially in those with unresolved trauma. This is known as dorsal vagal shutdown, a branch of the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for conservation and collapse.

Signs of dorsal vagal shutdown include:

     — Fatigue or exhaustion
— Brain fog
   — Dissociation or numbness
  — Feeling frozen or paralyzed
  — Social withdrawal

Rather than panic, you feel disconnected from others, from your purpose, and even from your own body.

This shutdown is often misinterpreted as a sign of laziness, depression, or a lack of motivation. But it’s actually your nervous system trying to protect you when it believes escape or fight isn’t an option.

How Therapy Interrupts the Cycle of Avoidance

You don’t have to force your way out of avoidance. In fact, trying to bulldoze through shutdown or fear can retraumatize the system. The goal isn’t to power through; it’s to co-regulate, repattern, and restore choice.

Here’s how therapy helps:

1. Somatic Therapy: Rewiring the Nervous System

At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we utilize somatic therapy to help clients reconnect with their body’s cues and gradually expand their tolerance for discomfort. Techniques like body tracking, orienting, and pendulation gently guide clients out of dorsal vagal shutdown and back into connection with themselves and the world.

2. EMDR and Trauma Resolution

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) enables clients to reprocess past experiences that have trained their nervous system to associate specific triggers with fear and anxiety. As clients rewire their responses to trauma, avoidance behaviors begin to soften naturally.

3. Parts Work and Internal Family Systems (IFS)

Avoidance often arises from inner parts of us that are scared or protective. Through IFS, clients learn to build compassionate relationships with these parts instead of fighting or rejecting them. When the protective part feels understood and supported, it no longer has to run the show.

4. Psychoeducation and Mindfulness

Understanding the neurobiology of anxiety reduces shame. Clients learn how their brains are working to protect them and how they can partner with their bodies through practices like mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to shift their state.

Questions to Reflect On

— What do you tend to avoid, and how does that avoidance impact your life?
— When you feel anxious or overwhelmed, do you notice yourself shutting down or numbing out?
— What would your life look like if you didn’t have to organize it around avoiding fear?

A New Relationship with Anxiety

Anxiety doesn’t go away by ignoring it or by pretending it’s not there. It changes when you develop a new relationship with fear: one rooted in curiosity, compassion, and somatic awareness. Therapy offers more than symptom relief; it provides a path back to yourself.

At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we understand the deep connection between trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and anxiety. Our integrative approach honors your pace, your story, and your body’s innate wisdom. You don’t have to keep shrinking your world to feel safe. You can learn to live fully, courageously, and connected even in the presence of uncertainty.

Contact us today to schedule a free 20-minute consultation and begin your journey toward embodied connection, clarity, and confidence.

📞 Call us at (310) 651-8458

📱 Text us at (310) 210-7934

📩 Email us at admin@embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com

🔗 Visit us at www.embodiedwellnessandrecovery.com

👉 Check us out on Instagram @embodied_wellness_and_recovery

🌍 Explore our offerings at Linktr. ee: https://linktr.ee/laurendummit

References:

1. Bergland, C. (2013). The Neuroscience of Shame. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201309/the-neuroscience-shame

2. Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory: Neurophysiological Foundations of Emotions, Attachment, Communication, and Self-Regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

3. Shin, L. M., & Liberzon, I. (2010). The Neurocircuitry of Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(1), 169–191.

Lauren Dummit-Schock 4/2/25 Lauren Dummit-Schock 4/2/25

Stuck in Worst-Case Scenarios? Therapy Can Calm Your Anxious Brain

Stuck in Worst-Case Scenarios? Therapy Can Calm Your Anxious Brain

Constantly imagining the worst? Discover how therapy helps rewire the brain and end the cycle of catastrophic thinking. Explore neuroscience-backed strategies from the experts at Embodied Wellness and Recovery.

Rewiring Fear: How Therapy Stops Catastrophic Thinking in Its Tracks

Do you ever feel like your mind is always jumping to the worst possible outcome?

Do you spiral into worst-case scenarios when your partner doesn’t text back? Do minor problems trigger overwhelming fear? If so, you may be caught in a cycle of catastrophic thinking—a common yet painful experience, especially for those living with anxiety, trauma, or chronic stress.

At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, we often hear clients say:

– “I can’t stop obsessing about what might go wrong.”

– “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I still feel panicked.”

– “It feels like my brain is always preparing for disaster.”

Sound familiar? You are not alone. Even in the depths of struggle, there exists the capacity for growth, repair, and reconnection. Although the process of healing may be complex, through therapy, it is possible to calm your nervous system, challenge anxious thoughts, and create new patterns in the brain.

🧠 What Is Catastrophic Thinking?

Catastrophic thinking (also known as catastrophizing) is a type of cognitive distortion where the mind automatically leaps to the worst possible conclusion, often without evidence.

Examples include:

– "I made a mistake at work—I'm going to get fired."

– "My child has a cough—what if it’s something serious?"

– "They didn’t text me back—they must be mad at me."

These thoughts feel real because they activate the brain's threat system, causing physiological symptoms like a racing heart, muscle tension, and difficulty concentrating.

🌿 The Neuroscience Behind Catastrophizing

When you're caught in catastrophic thinking, the amygdala (the brain’s fear center) goes into overdrive. It hijacks the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for logic and reasoning), making it harder to access rational thought.

Over time, this pattern becomes wired into the brain through neuroplasticity. The more you catastrophize, the more easily the brain defaults to those fear-based pathways.

However, therapy helps create new neural pathways that support safety, regulation, and calm.

💡 How Therapy Helps You Interrupt the Cycle

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is a gold-standard treatment for anxiety and catastrophizing. It helps you:

– Identify and challenge distorted thoughts

– Gather evidence for and against those thoughts

– Replace catastrophic thinking with more balanced, grounded beliefs

This process strengthens the prefrontal cortex, improving emotional regulation and decision-making (Beck, 2011).

2. Somatic Therapy

Sometimes, the body reacts before the mind can catch up. Somatic therapy helps you tune into physical sensations and discharge stored tension. You learn how to:

– Ground through breath and movement

– Notice where anxiety lives in the body

– Create a felt sense of safety

When the nervous system feels safe, catastrophic thoughts lose their grip.

3. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

EMDR helps reprocess traumatic memories and reduce their emotional charge. By targeting past experiences that fuel current anxiety, EMDR can reduce the intensity of fear responses and help the brain recognize that the danger is no longer present (Shapiro, 2018).

4. Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Therapies

Mindfulness-based therapy teaches you to observe thoughts without judgment. Over time, this helps reduce the reactivity and urgency that often accompany catastrophizing. You become better able to say, “This is just a thought—not a fact.”

Self-compassion practices can also soothe the inner critic that often drives catastrophic thinking, helping you respond to fear with kindness instead of panic (Neff, 2011).

📈 What Catastrophic Thinking Can Lead To (If Left Untreated)

If not addressed, chronic catastrophic thinking can contribute to:

– Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

– Panic attacks

– Insomnia

– Depression

– Strained relationships

– Burnout and decision paralysis

It can also keep you stuck in avoidance, preventing you from pursuing goals, setting boundaries, or enjoying meaningful connections.

❤️ You Are Not Your Thoughts

One of the most powerful shifts therapy offers is this:

You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind them.

When you begin to observe your thinking instead of fusing with it, you regain agency. You can pause, reframe, and choose differently. This is the foundation of emotional freedom.

🌿 At Embodied Wellness and Recovery, We Can Help

Our integrative approach includes:

– Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

– Somatic Experiencing and nervous system regulation

– EMDR for trauma-related anxiety

– Mindfulness and compassion-focused therapy

– Relationship and attachment work to address the deeper roots of fear and insecurity

Whether you’re struggling with anxious thoughts, trauma, or relationship stress, we help you build the tools to regulate your nervous system, rewire your brain, and reclaim peace.

🔍 Start Rewiring Your Thinking Today

If you find yourself persistently anticipating the worst, it’s important to recognize that this pattern is not fixed—and change is possible.

You can learn to calm your mind, connect with your body, and respond to life with clarity and resilience.

Ready to begin?

Reach out to Embodied Wellness and Recovery to schedule a free 20-minute consultation with our team of top-rated mental health experts and somatic practitioners to begin your healing today.. Let’s work together to transform catastrophic thinking into compassionate clarity.