This podcast explores how fawning—a trauma-driven survival response—shapes sibling estrangement. Psychologist Ingrid Clayton explains that fawning involves hyper-attuning to a sibling’s moods, avoiding confrontation, minimizing one’s needs, and over-functioning to maintain family harmony. These behaviors, rooted in childhood survival within unpredictable or unsafe homes, persist into adulthood as chronic people-pleasing, caretaking, and performative relationships. Fawners sacrifice authenticity for safety, leading to emotional distance and even estrangement. Clayton distinguishes fawning from intentional people-pleasing, emphasizing it's an automatic nervous system reaction. Healing requires recognizing these patterns, setting boundaries, and reclaiming one’s authentic self.

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