You meet someone and tell them your life story within a week. Or you’ve known someone for years and still don’t think they really know you.

It can feel like you’re either all in or completely shut down, with nothing in between.

If you grew up in an environment where your privacy wasn’t respected and your boundaries were repeatedly crossed, trusting other people can become incredibly difficult. This episode explores why oversharing and hyper-independence are often two versions of the same survival strategy, and why the real work isn’t learning to trust other people, it’s learning to trust yourself.

Resources mentioned:

Research on attachment and interpersonal trustResearch on boundaries and self-conceptNeurodivergence, masking, and relational safety

Go deeper:

The companion episode of Is This A Thing? explores the difference between privacy and secrecy, why so many survivors feel guilty for having an inner world of their own, and how learning to keep something for yourself can become an essential part of recovery. Available on The Hub: liberationacademy.co.uk/the-hub

Aperio Profiles:

Neurodivergent-informed cognitive and personality profiling for individuals, managers, and HR. Not a diagnosis. A functional map of how your brain actually works.

aperioprofiles.co.uk