Addressing the confusion in language within the literature of trauma: A reflective account and conceptual synthesis
Updated: Sep 7
Reflective Practice Article · Open Access
Michael Guilding, Independent clinician, UK
Corresponding author: Michael Guilding, michael.guilding@gmail.com
Perspectives on Complex Trauma, Volume 6, Issue 1 (2025)
Published: December 2025
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Abstract
There is much confusion in the literature concerned with our biological responses to threat particularly as regards the states of “Freeze” and “Tonic Immobility”. The term “Freeze” is used by various authors to describe three quite different biological states, while an unchallenged decades-old hypothesis concerning Tonic Immobility may have obscured our understanding of parasympathetic shutdown in response to a seemingly inescapable threat to life. This confusion can prevent therapists from clearly understanding trauma responses and thus limits our ability to help our clients. This article examines some contradictions in the literature and proposes a clearer terminology for describing human fear responses.
This reflective account, that synthesizes selected literature with clinical and personal observations, is an extract from Michael Guilding’s forthcoming book “Fear in the Therapy Room: A survival guide for working with complex trauma”, due to be published in June 2026 by Hammersmith Books, who have given permission for its inclusion in the Journal.
Keywords: freeze response; tonic immobility; threat response; defensive immobility; orienting response; fight-or-flight; parasympathetic shutdown; dorsal vagal; polyvagal theory; dissociation; trauma terminology; clinical conceptualisation
Cite this article
Guilding, M. (2025). Addressing the confusion in language within the literature of trauma: A reflective account and conceptual synthesis. Perspectives on Complex Trauma, 6(1). https://www.complextraumainstitute.org/post/addressing-the-confusion-in-language-within-the-literature-of-trauma-a-reflective-account-and-conce
Copyright and licence
© 2025 The Author(s).
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Published by the Complex Trauma Institute.
ISSN 2635-0807