Stop Overthinking Every Choice

In this episode, therapist Hannah Guy breaks down why decision-making feels overwhelming for people with trauma histories and chronic anxiety. She explains how the nervous system confuses emotional discomfort with danger, why trauma creates pressure to make the “right” choice, and how fight/flight/fawn/freeze show up when we’re faced with everyday decisions.

Hannah shares trauma-informed tools to reduce decision paralysis, regulate the body, and approach choices with more clarity and less fear. You’ll learn grounding practices, reflective questions, and a new perspective on uncertainty: decisions are experiments, not life sentences.

Topics covered include trauma responses, attachment triggers, emotional regulation, nervous system healing, somatic strategies, and reframing high-stakes thinking in dating, relationships, and major life transitions.

If you struggle with overthinking or fear of making the wrong choice, this episode offers practical support and a gentle mindset shift.

✨ Want to work with Hannah and the trauma therapy team at Revive Therapy Services?

You’ve gotta be a PA resident—check us out at revivetherapyservices.com

And don’t forget to follow along on TikTok & IG: @revivetherapyservices

 

⏱️ Episode Chapters

00:03 — Welcome + Why This Topic Matters Intro to the episode, why “the right decision” comes up so often in therapy and real life.

00:49 — The Pressure to Choose Correctly How perfectionism and fear show up in everyday decision-making.

01:21 — A Personal Look at Decision Anxiety Hannah shares how dating activates her own decision spirals.

03:21 — Trauma Makes Choices Feel Like Survival Why your brain treats emotional danger like physical danger.

04:48 — How Trauma Turns Normal Decisions Into Threats Coffee dates, texts, jobs—why everything feels high stakes.

06:42 — Fight/Flight/Fawn/Freeze in Decision-Making How each trauma response shows up when you’re faced with choices.

09:04 — The Myth of the “Right” Decision Why one perfect path doesn’t exist and how trauma convinces us otherwise.

11:15 — The Fantasy of Certainty How our nervous system chases the illusion of safety through “right choices.”

12:52 — Decisions Are Experiments, Not Life Sentences Reframing choices as learning instead of permanent outcomes.

13:07 — Regulating Before You Choose Why your body—not logic—makes decisions feel impossible.

13:12 — Tools to Return to Regulation Grounding, orienting, breathwork, and naming the scared parts.

15:38 — What Clarity Actually Feels Like How clarity shows up once the nervous system calms down.

17:50 — Building Tolerance for Uncertainty Expanding your window of tolerance around big and small decisions.

18:29 — You’re Not Meant to Be Regulated All the Time Debunking the myth of constant calm.

19:07 — Mastery Is Tolerating Uncertainty A powerful reframe for healing.

19:10 — Final Reflections + Journal Prompts Questions to ask yourself when you feel pressure to choose.

20:57 — Closing + How to Connect with Hannah Therapy offerings, contact details, and gratitude.