E143: Why CPTSD Makes Decision-Making So Hard (And How to Trust Yourself Again)

Do you research every decision into the ground, ask five people for their opinion

before trusting your own, or feel real physical anxiety when there’s no clear right answer? In

this episode we’re naming a pattern a lot of us with complex trauma histories carry, and it

has almost nothing to do with being “an overthinker” by nature.

We trace decision paralysis back to its actual root, childhood conditioning that

taught the nervous system mistakes were dangerous, not just inconvenient. This episode

includes personal reflection on dropping two of my three kids off at college for the first time,

and the flood of second-guessing that showed up in me that had nothing to do with them

directly.

By the end of this episode you’ll have a new reframe, “I trust myself to learn as I go,”

and a concrete tool, the 70% rule, for acting without waiting for certainty that was never

coming.

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Connect with Cindy:

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email: cindy@cindypaynelpc.com

This podcast supports women healing trauma, attachment wounds, codependency, anxiety, perfectionism, people pleasing, overthinking, and rebuilding self-worth, self-trust, boundaries, and confidence through trauma-informed guidance.

Through honest, grounded conversations, it explores the real human experience of growth and leadership, the tension between purpose and rest, boundaries and connection, and how choosing awareness and compassion creates a more aligned and authentic life.