Signs Your Clients Have a Freeze Response in Trauma: Understanding the Freeze Response in Trauma

You’re in session with a client who seems disengaged.

They nod along, but their responses are short.

They say, “I don’t know” to your questions.

They look physically present but emotionally distant.

You’ve tried reframing, validation, even grounding techniques—but nothing seems to help.

It’s frustrating, and you start to wonder:

• Are they resisting therapy?

• Do they even want to be here?

• Am I missing something?

  
  

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

The freeze response is one of the most misunderstood survival states in trauma therapy. When clinicians misinterpret freeze as resistance, avoidance, or disengagement, we risk pushing clients further into shutdown rather than helping them move through it.

But here’s the truth: Clients in freeze aren’t choosing to be stuck—their nervous system has made the decision for them. And these are all signs that your client is stuck in the freeze response of trauma.

Freeze Is a Survival Response, Not Resistance

Many trauma therapists are trained to recognize fight-or-flight, but freeze operates differently. It is an autonomic nervous system response triggered when a person perceives threat with no way to fight back or escape.

Clients in freeze may:

✔ Struggle to make decisions, even about simple things

✔ Feel numb, detached, or emotionally shut down

✔ Appear compliant in session but struggle to take action outside of therapy

✔ Have difficulty remembering details or recalling past events

When a client is frozen, talking about their trauma won’t move them forward—and in some cases, it can make them shut down even more.

Traditional talk therapy often relies on cognition and insight, but if a client’s prefrontal cortex is offline due to nervous system shutdown, those interventions won’t work.

This is why many trauma therapists feel stuck when working with clients who are stuck.

How Can We Help Clients Move Through Freeze?

Freeze requires a different therapeutic approach than fight-or-flight states. Instead of trying to push through the shutdown, we need to:

✔ Recognize when a client is in freeze rather than mislabeling it as avoidance

✔ Create a sense of safety before moving into deeper work

✔ Use body-based, somatic interventions to engage the nervous system

✔ Pace interventions carefully to prevent overwhelm

In my upcoming training,

Understanding the Freeze Response in Trauma,

I’ll be diving deeper into:

• The neuroscience of freeze and why clients get stuck

• The difference between freeze, resistance, and depression

• Somatic-based interventions that help clients reconnect safely

• How to avoid reactivating trauma by pacing interventions correctly

  
  

If you’ve ever felt stuck, ineffective, or unsure how to help a client who seems frozen, this training is for you.

Join the Training and Learn How to Work with Freeze

📅 Date: March 26, 2025

🕐 Time: 1:00 – 3:00 PM EST

📍 Location: Live Virtual Training

🔗 Register Now: https://www.kairoscounselings.org/event-details/understanding-the-freeze-response-in-trauma

Don’t let freeze keep you or your clients stuck. Learn the tools you need to work with—not against—the nervous system.

Spots are filling up—reserve yours today!

As always, with hope and light,

Helen Malinowski, LICSW