What if the traits that make you successful stop working? Complex Trauma, High Achievement, Attachment & Nervous System Survival with Dr. Christopher Barker

Dr. Christopher Barker is a clinical psychologist and author whose work explores complex trauma, attachment, and one powerful idea: high functioning and psychological health are not always the same thing. In this conversation, we dig into what happens when competence, independence, perfectionism, and overachievement become survival adaptations. We talk about why you can intellectually know a relationship is unhealthy and still feel pulled toward it, why “energizing” can sometimes be mistaken for love, and how the nervous system can keep anticipating danger long after the original threat is gone. In this episode: • Complex trauma and high achievement • Attachment injuries in childhood and adulthood • Perfectionism vs. healthy ambition • Hypervigilance and waiting for the other shoe to drop • Why “activated” may be more useful than “triggered” • Trauma-informed relationships and finding safe support • Why healing may be better understood as repair • Rebuilding choice, trust, and freedom through repeated experiences Maybe the goal isn’t to get rid of every survival strategy that got you here. Maybe it’s simply to stop letting it run the company. Connect with Dr.