Do you ever feel a sudden rush of shame, fear, panic, or people-pleasing — and instantly wonder, “Why am I reacting like this?”

For women with childhood attachment wounds and relational trauma, these intense emotional waves aren’t overreactions. They’re emotional flashbacks — a trauma response wired into your nervous system long before you had language for what you felt. In this episode, Cindy explains how emotional flashbacks form, why they're so common for women, and how they link directly to patterns like fawning, self-silencing, and chronic people-pleasing.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• How emotional flashbacks differ from classic PTSD flashbacks
• Why attachment wounds make you react to subtle cues like tone shifts or silence
• How trauma wires your body to respond before your adult mind can step in
• A compassionate grounding skill to soothe emotional flashbacks in real time

Press play to understand emotional flashbacks with clarity — and learn a gentle, trauma-informed way to interrupt them and reconnect with your grounded, adult self.

Are you a woman who has done years of healing work on your attachment trauma, yet still feel unable to let go of people-pleasing and perfectionism?

This trauma-informed podcast helps women with complex PTSD heal the lasting impact of childhood attachment wounds from parents and caregivers so you can finally release survival patterns, rebuild self-trust, and create relationships rooted in authenticity, confidence, and emotional safety.

Listen each week to learn how to:

• Understand how trauma, attachment patterns, and overthinking fuel anxiety, stress, and burnout.

• Release perfectionism, people-pleasing, and outdated identities that keep you playing small.

• Build healthy boundaries, embodied self-trust, and a grounded sense of purpose and worth.

Your host, Cindy Payne—a licensed professional counselor, certified yoga teacher, and C-PTSD survivor—offers a Monday episode (solo or guest) and a Wednesday Midweek Reframe teaching a practical skill or concept, so you can reduce the impact of C-PTSD symptoms and improve relationships.

New Episodes Every Week:

Tune in every Monday for a full-length episode (solo or guest), and every Wednesday for your short Midweek Reframe—a quick skill, concept, or grounding tool to support your healing.

Work With Cindy:

Ready for deeper support? Explore therapy, coaching, or book a consultation here: cindypayne.com

Connect With Me:

Send me a message directly on Instagram: @cindypaynerooted