The Good Girl Syndrome Unraveled | People Pleasing, Trauma, and Reclaiming Your Authentic Self
Have you ever said yes when every part of your body was screaming no?
Do you apologize reflexively, avoid conflict at all costs, or feel responsible for everyone else’s comfort—while quietly burning out?
In this episode of Pulling Threads, host Leslie Mathews unravels Good Girl Syndrome—the deeply ingrained pattern of people pleasing, perfectionism, and self-abandonment that so many women carry without realizing it.
This episode explores:
What Good Girl Syndrome really is (and why it’s not a personality flaw)
The neuroscience behind people pleasing and why setting boundaries can feel unsafe
How conditional love and early socialization wire this pattern into the nervous system
The physical and emotional toll of chronic self-abandonment (anxiety, burnout, exhaustion)
Why being “nice” often blocks real intimacy and authenticity
Signs you may be living behind the mask of perfection
How awareness begins to rewire the brain
Gentle, neuroscience-backed steps to start reclaiming your voice, needs, and boundaries
Through trauma-informed insight, attachment theory, polyvagal theory, and lived experience, Leslie explains why disappointing others can trigger the same fear response as physical danger—and how learning to pause, name the pattern, and practice self-compassion creates real change.
This episode is for you if:
You struggle with people pleasing or setting boundaries
You feel exhausted but can’t pinpoint why
You’ve lost touch with who you are outside of being “the helper”
You’re healing from trauma, burnout, or relational over-functioning
You’re ready to stop performing and start living authentically
The “good girl” once kept you safe. She doesn’t have to run your life anymore.
🎧 Listen now and start pulling the thread that leads back to yourself.
Connect with Leslie / The LooM Life
🌿 Website: https://www.theloomlife.com
🎙️ Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pulling-threads-weaving-authenticity/id1805667549
📸 Instagram: @theloomlife and @loomlifetherapy
📘 Facebook: The LooM Life
📺 YouTube: Pulling Threads with Leslie Mathews
If this episode resonated, please like, subscribe, and share it with a woman who needs permission to choose herself.
You’re not broken. You’re waking up. 💛
