780 Why You Freeze Around Authority Figures and How to Take Your Power Back
The Terri Cole Show
Terri Cole
4.9 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 4 November 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Do you ever shrink, freeze, or overreact with authority figures?
It could happen with a boss, a professor, or even a doctor.
Your heart races, your thoughts scramble, and afterward you think, Why did I react like that?
You are not alone.
For many women, interactions with authority can trigger strong emotional responses that may not make sense in the moment.
Today, we are breaking down why this happens, how it shows up, and the practical steps you can take to change the pattern.
Read the show notes for today's episode at terricole.com/780
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Well, hello there and welcome to this episode of the Terry Cole Show. I am so happy you're here with me today. I want to start with a question. Do you ever feel like you shrink or you freeze or you overreact when you're dealing with authority figures? Could be a boss, a professor, even a doctor. |
| 0:24.3 | If you're not in your head, yes, well, you are not alone. |
| 0:37.4 | Because for many women, especially those with unheeled father wounds, authority figures can really trigger deep emotional responses that don't always make sense. And here's the thing, even if you're not |
| 0:39.6 | like terrified shaking in your boots, do you go into management mode? Are you controlling what's |
| 0:47.4 | happening? Are you walking on eggshells? All of that falls under this same category. So today I'm breaking down why we have this experience, |
| 0:59.3 | especially if you have a father wound, how it shows up in your life, and most importantly, |
| 1:03.8 | what you can do to shift it. So before we get into it, I just want to take a moment to say, |
| 1:14.2 | Hi, friends, thanks for celebrating 10 years of the Cherry Coles show with me. |
| 1:16.3 | We did a 10-day celebration. |
| 1:20.1 | Oh, God, it was six weeks ago, maybe now or a month ago. |
| 1:24.1 | And it was just so fun to hear from so many of you. |
| 1:27.0 | So thank you, thank you, thank you for being around today. |
| 1:28.8 | And hey, thank you if you are an OG or a newbie. So thank you. Thank you for being around today. And hey, thank you. |
| 1:35.1 | If you are an OG or a newbie, I super appreciate you. And if you love the show, if you really do, |
| 1:39.3 | it helps me so much. If you just take a minute out of your life and go rate it, review, |
| 1:47.2 | or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts. All right. I want to say thank you to SSJS for this five-star review, the best mentor for boundaries. Terry is an incredible mentor when it comes to |
| 1:52.9 | setting boundaries and creating relationships that truly support your well-being. Her guidance |
| 1:56.8 | is clear, compassionate, and immediately applicable. Listening to her show, it's like having a |
| 2:01.9 | wise, supportive coach in your corner. Oh, thank you so much, SSJS. That is super nice of you. |
| 2:08.2 | And what I want to say to you is that the fact that you took five minutes out of your life to write |
| 2:13.0 | that beautiful five-store review for the Terry Cole show, I guarantee you someone read that and gave |
| 2:19.8 | the show a try, which is why I encourage you guys to do it, because together we're amplifying |
... |
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