Episode 47: Dr. Ingrid Clayton

Recipe

9 Jan

01/08/2026

In this episode of How To Be In This Body, we explore the fawn response as an adaptive survival strategy (not a character flaw) and trace a gentle path from self-abandonment back to self-contact. Dr. Ingrid Clayton, clinical psychologist and author, brings together clinical insight, lived experience, and practical tools for building internal safety and reducing shame.

Together, Ailey and Ingrid unpack how fawning develops, why danger can feel familiar, and how our bodies learn to prioritize connection over selfhood. This conversation offers compassion, language, and embodied understanding for anyone who has learned to appease in order to survive and who is ready to begin coming home to themselves.

About In This Body: Conversations with leading experts about the importance of embodiment in living an authentic life. In This Body asks the important questions: How does connecting to your body change your life? How will connecting to your body allow you to love better and live more authentically? And how does connecting to your body change the trajectory of our shared world?

In this episode:

0:00 – Embodiment And Show Welcome

1:47 – Meet Dr Ingrid Clayton

8:16 – Agency, Validation And Reclaiming Story

16:28 – The Missing Discourse On Fawning

20:26 – Codependency Versus Trauma Response

23:27 – How Fawning Feels In The Body

28:34 – From Self-Abandonment To Self-Contact

34:57 – Fawning In The Therapy Room

41:34 – Trust Your Body’s Unique Path

44:27 – Everyday Practices For Regulation

Find the Full Transcript Here