You’re Not Your Dinosaur Brain 🦖

I often tell my clients: “You're not your dinosaur brain.” But what do I mean by that?

Think dinosaurs. Big, powerful creatures…with teeny, tiny brains. 🧠 Their “reptilian brain” was wired for only a few things: survival, threat detection, and quick reaction.

So when a dinosaur sensed danger, what did it do? It fought, froze, or fled. And guess what? We’ve got our own “dinosaur brain,” too.

Meet Your Inner Dinosaur

At the base of your brain lies the brainstem, one of the oldest and most primal parts of the human brain. Its job? To keep us alive, safe and protected. Just like it did for the dinosaurs.

When a threat shows up (real or perceived), the dinosaur brain kicks in automatically with a survival response:

• Fight 🥊 – Get aggressive to stop the threat.

  Snapping at a loved one during an argument because your body senses danger, even when you’re actually safe.

• Flight 🏃 – Run away to escape danger.

  Avoiding emails from your boss because your brain interprets feedback as a threat.

• Freeze ❄️ – Go still, hoping the threat passes.

  In a heated meeting, you suddenly feel paralyzed, unable to speak up or defend yourself.

And the response not as well known but just as impactful:

• Fawn 🤝 – Try to appease the threat for safety.

  Saying “yes” to a request you don’t want to do, just to keep the peace or to ensure you don't disappoint.

  
  
  
  

  

  Illustration created in collaboration with Microsoft Copilot, based on original concept by Stephanie Smith.

  
  

Trauma and the Alarm Bell of the Brain

Here’s where trauma comes in.

In the center of the brain sits the amygdala—think of it as the alarm system of the brain. 🔔 When something triggers danger (even if you’re actually safe), the amygdala sounds the alarm. It tells your dinosaur brain: “Protect! Protect! Protect!”—and you go straight into one of the survival modes-fight, flight, freeze or fawn. Your brain will do whatever it needs to do to ensure you are not in danger AND that is exactly what it is meant to do!!

However, when we’ve experienced trauma, that internal alarm system can get stuck in overdrive. Even in moments of calm, the brain may still behave as if danger is lurking nearby—like harm could strike at any moment. Your nervous system becomes hypervigilant, constantly scanning your surroundings for threats. And here’s the tricky part: many of these perceived threats are subtle or unconscious. Your body may react before your mind even realizes what’s happening, triggering survival responses to things that aren’t actually dangerous.

But.... "You're Not Your Dinosaur Brain"

And this is where the title of my blog comes from: You're not your dinosaur brain! Clients often feel like their trauma has become the center of their lives—almost like an identity: “I am my trauma.” But I'm here to tell you:

• You are not your trauma response.

• You are not what happened to you.

• Your trauma happened to you—it does not define you!! It is NOT who you are.

Here’s the truth: you are so much more than that! 💛Your trauma is certianly part of what happened to you, but it is just that, a part of what happened to you! Your life is made up of your values, your strengths, your quirks, your relationships, your resilience. Trauma isn’t your whole story.

Why You Are Not Your Trauma

Trauma may shape your experiences, but it is not your identity. Here’s why:

1. Trauma is something that happened to you, not something you are.

   You didn’t choose it. You didn't ask for it. It isn’t your identity.

   
   

2. Your brain adapts to protect you.

   Trauma responses are survival skills your brain developed to keep you safe. That shows strength, not weakness. Your brain did exactly what it needed to do to ensure survival.

   
   

3. You are more than one story.

   Your life includes love, values, desires, creativity, laughter, goals, and connection. Trauma is one thread in the fabric of your life, not the whole cloth.

   
   

4. Healing is possible.

   Brains can rewire. Nervous systems can calm. People grow beyond trauma every day.

The Ball Metaphor

Think of trauma as a ball you are carrying as you go about your life. You didn't choose to carry it, and you don't know why it is there. Some days, it feels unbearably heavy. Your body aches from the pain of it. Some days, you might be carrying it in a backpack, or it's so light, you might even forget it’s there. Other times, it's right in front of your face, so it is difficult to see the path ahead, making life harder to navigate.

But here’s the key: YOU ARE NOT THE BALL!! You are the person carrying it. You still have the power to set it down, let it deflate, or even ask someone to help lighten the load by helping you manage it.

Your trauma is something you carry with you—it is NOT who you are.

“Trauma is not what happened to you. Trauma is what happens inside of you as a result of what happened to you.” Gabor Maté

Why This Matters

When we understand our trauma responses (fight, flight, freeze, fawn), we gain the power to notice them instead of getting stuck in them. And taking your power back is a powerful experience in the healing journey.

Over time, this awareness lets us:

✅ Recognize when we’re in survival mode.

✅ Use coping tools to calm the brain and body and bring relief.

✅ Reconnect with who we are beyond the trauma.

✅ Learn to focus on our values and goals rather then our trauma responses.

✅ Desensitize our memories so they carry less "punch".

Want to learn more?

Understanding Trauma Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn, & Flop

Lauren Disner explains how these automatic survival responses show up in everyday life and how to normalize them for healing.

How the Body Keeps The Score on Trauma

Bessel van der Kolk, author of "The Body Keeps The Score," discusses the widespread existence of trauma and how it manifests in our bodies.

Trauma is Not What happens To You, It is What Happens Inside of You

Gabor Mate offers a clear and compassionate explanation of how trauma affects the brain and body.

What's next?

In future posts, I’ll break down each trauma response in detail—what it looks like, why it happens, and how we can work with it. But in my next blog, I will be talking about school anxiety as this is an issue I am coming across again and again in my practice.

Thank you for reading my blog today! I would love your continued support as I launch this blog so I would love if you could leave me comment and share this blog post on social media.

And never forget: You're not your dinosaur brain!!! You are a whole, complex, wonderful human being!!

Thanks for reading—

Stephanie Smith

Registered Social Worker and Therapist

Olive Branch Counselling

www.olivebranchcounsellingchwk.com