People Pleasing & ADHD: When "Yes" is a Nervous-System Response and How to Stop with Anita Sandoval, LPC - EP 555
About this episode
The episode explores how people-pleasing is a nervous-system strategy related to ADHD and trauma, featuring insights from Anita Sandoval.
People-pleasing isn't a personality flaw—often it's a nervous-system strategy. Licensed Professional Counselor and ADHD-CCSP Anita Sandoval joins Eric to unpack how the fawn response shows up with ADHD, trauma, and RSD; how it differs from masking and conflict avoidance; and what real change looks like. We cover Anita's "Empower → Resilient → Authentic" model, ADHD-friendly EMDR adaptations, and the messy-but-worth-it work of boundaries (including with narcissistic family dynamics). Resources, Anita's links, and a quick survey about a potential evening coaching group are in the full notes at ADHDreWired.com. Guest: Anita Sandoval, LPC-S, EMDR-Certified, ADHD-CCSP — therapist, supervisor, and author of Broken Chains (English & Spanish). Host of Empowering Women in Conversations and creator of Empower Her Pathways. We cover: People-pleasing as a neuro-adaptive response (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) People-pleasing vs. conflict avoidance vs. masking ADHD & RSD: why "neutral" feedback stings and how regulation shifts it Differentiating from personality disorders (dependent/BPD) Hypervigilance, ACEs, and emotional regulation circuits Boundaries with narcissistic dynamics (including the…
More episodes of ADHD reWired
- ADHD reWired Live Q and A April 2026 ep 562
- Coaching Groups: Final Registration Events This Week (A Short Song)
- Doing It the Way Your Brain Actually Works (561)
- 560 How to Finish Anything with Paulette Perhach
- 559 ADHD & AuDHD Burnout: Why Community & Accountability Still Matter Personal Updates & Listener Questions
- When "Fine" Keeps Us Stuck: A Reflection on My Dad, Masking, and Adapting ep 558
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the ADHD reWired podcast page.