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View from backstage looking out at stage curtains - about to step into the performance

Defences & Patterns

The Performance Trap

The exhausting performance of being 'easy to talk to' and how it cuts us off from the very connection we're desperate for.

On performing yourself out of connection

I've written about something I see constantly in my practice - the exhausting performance of being "easy to talk to" and how it cuts us off from the very connection we're desperate for.

It's about the particular hell of chronic people-pleasing, the fury that builds underneath all that agreeableness, and why the cure isn't confidence - it's the courage to risk being disliked for who you actually are.

The piece went live on The Counselling Directory this week. You can read it here.


Luke Row

Luke Row is a BACP registered psychodynamic therapist (#197852) in Croydon, South London, currently undertaking advanced training at Tavistock Relationships. He works with individuals who've tried to reason their way through things and couples tired of managing each other, people ready to understand what's underneath. Book a session

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