As therapists, we may sometimes feel unsure about what to do when a client enters a freeze response and loses their ability to speak.
What’s more, it can be difficult to gauge a client’s sense of safety when they’re unable to talk to us.
So in the video below, Janina Fisher, PhD walks us through 2 strategies that can guide our communication with clients in freeze. She’ll also share one question that can help us assess whether a client is frozen or dissociating.
Take a look.
Though and why those? Because little babies nod their heads and shake their heads. It’s a procedurally learned body communication that goes back to six months of life or earlier.
So sometimes, it’s so automatic that even though the client is frozen, they can do a little nod and a little shake and then I can ask yes, no questions. So I was, my first question after can you nod your head and shake it is it are you feeling a lot of fear?
Because it’s so important for that client in a freeze state to know that the therapist understands how terrifying this state is. So I want that to be a question … So I want to get the client’s acknowledgement and then if the client says no, then I might think, “Oh, maybe this is dissociation.” Because fear and freeze go hand in hand.
Think of a deer in the headlights. I know I’ve seen on a country road I’ve seen a deer suddenly appear in my headlights and you see that every muscle is quivering even though the deer is immobilized and so I’m assuming there’s that level of internal quivering in my client.
Now, occasionally the client can’t shake or nod because the freeze reaction is so intense, but one of the things that is true of the deer or the client in that state is that the eyes still move and so then, if nodding and shaking the head don’t work, I ask the client, “Would you be willing to turn your eyes so you can see as far to the right as possible?”
And most clients will do that and then the wonderful thing is and we can try it. As soon as I look all the way to the right, I can feel my head wanting to turn because so often using the eyes to scan as far to the left or as far to the right begins to unlock the freeze.
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Now, I’d like to hear from you. What strategies will you try to communicate with a client in freeze? Leave a comment below.
Is it ok to ask ‘are you here with me?’
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How useful it is this tip!
This happened to me one time. Very close to when the incident occured.
I was in shock of an experience. My mind literally couldn’t process it.. and that’s why I froze. It was like literally too much for my mind to process at the moment, but the underlying was fear from what I experienced. I’ve had to slowly break it down little by little over time. It’s a process and I think your body knows what it can handle and not handle. It clearly wasn’t ready to process all of it. It would have been nice for someone to tell me what is happening though. Like “your body is experiencing freeze right now b/c it’s not ready to process this much right now, but we will get there. This is a normal reaction to trauma” That would have been a really healthy, healing answer.
Thank you for this great insight into the freeze response. I am a teacher and if I see a child in distress of this kind, I direct
Them to the present. Through breath and grounding. I guess it’s similar to being aware of one’s surroundings by moving the eyes and head.
Is there a reason why a therapist needs to put a client in a freeze state? I think this is what I experienced from a therapist and I feel like it did more harm than good. I experienced the front of my brain rip like Velcro and I felt like I lost my identity. I reached out to the therapist for help and was told to stop thinking about what I experienced and to go for a walk. I’m still trying to heal from that session.
Have pen and paper ready. All times i went mute, i could still write down what i wanted to communicate and was not so triggered into a traumastate i was back in time. The worst was when it happened at my dentistspecialist after a rootcanal. The Dental Specialist telling me there was no such thing one could go mute, unable to talk with PTSD, being triggered after a rootcanal. That brought on such shame i entered the Collaps state. The same happened when suffering Broken Heart Syndrom symptoms and a heartspecialist told me i should read more cheap romantic novels. One week later there was a documentary on National Geographic of the syndrome by John Hopkins University. Lack of knowledge, updates, being shamed by professionals has often been more traumatizing to me than the original traumas by parents who did not know better.
Hi Gertrude, thank you for sharing these experiences. I too have felt shamed by health professionals that do not understand what they are telling people about traumatic physical responses. some people are very ignorant about mental health issues and we need to be aware of that. I am glad to hear that you now understand that not everyone is trauma informed and kind to others.
Best, Janel
I´d rather would ask the client if she/he feels anxiety (not fear), since she/he in most cases doesn’t know in that state of what she/he is afraid of. But it is diffuse anxiety and a bodily felt sense of risk of death or threat for life that cannot be verbalize since it is unconscious or preconscious.
I will try the method of the eye movement. Thanks for that!
And in some cases, if none of these methods seem to work and if there is already enough felt trust and containing, I touch shortly the clients hand or arm in a very mindful and gentle way, and even hum in a calming way.