Interventions

Practical coaching interventions by response type

• Fight: practice pause rituals, breath to downregulate, assertive vs aggressive role-play, somatic release (intense exercise or punching pillow with safety). Build restitution skills for repairing relationships after anger.

• Flight: graded approach work, distress tolerance skills, reality-check planning, small return-to-presence exercises (stay-in-place for 2–5 minutes, then increase).

• Freeze: gentle mobilization (small tasks, movement with safety), orienting exercises, naming sensations, safe-touch protocols (if consented), and grounding anchors.

• Fawn: boundary training, saying-no scripts, value-based identity work, partner/relationship experiments to tolerate conflict safely.

• Flop: prioritise basic activation and medical/therapeutic referral, pacing, sleep hygiene, nutrition, and slow re-engagement with pleasurable activities.