I’ll never forget this one client at my old job in Corrections.
I was supervising a client on a Court Order once – not my usual guy, just filling in for a colleague – and it was evident to me straight away he was in psychosis. 🫨
I’ve worked with many people who are in psychosis the majority of the time, and when you work with someone consistently you know what their baseline is – as in, you can tell when they’re doing ok, and when they’re massively unwell.
He walked into my office already agitated, the kind of energy that makes every cell in your body sit up and go, pay attention. 🧐
The conversation was short, sharp, heated.
And then it happened.
In a split second, his pupils blew wide open, his eyes turned completely black – just like what you see in a horror movie when the demon gets their claws into someone. 😈
A brick dropped in my stomach and I knew I was in trouble.
My body knew before my brain could catch up: get out, now.
So I trusted that instinct, made a quick exit, and thanked every spirit guide, angel and random universal force that nothing went down that day.
What was really happening?
This poor guy was in psychosis. 🌀
His brain was in another reality, one where logic, safety and sense don’t live anymore.
Psychosis isn’t evil, it isn’t “bad behaviour” – it’s the brain in absolute overload. 🤯
For the person experiencing it, it’s terrifying.
For the person sitting across the desk (hi, me 🙋🏻♀️), it’s pretty scary too.
It was a stark reminder that behaviour is often just symptoms playing out.
It’s not about you, it’s about their state.
The lessons I took from that day
🤔 Trust your gut
If your body is screaming at you telling you something is wrong, don’t gaslight yourself into “being polite.” Politeness won’t save your life. Instinct might.
🥴 Energy doesn’t lie
You don’t need a psychology degree to know when someone’s off. If you feel it, it’s real enough to matter.
😵💫 Manage your own state
Your nervous system is your superpower. If you spiral into panic, you make risky situations riskier.
Tools like EFT, grounding, and state change aren’t just fluffy self-help hacks – they’re how you keep your cool when shit gets real.
These tools helped me out a lot during a very long career in Corrections.
✋🏼 Boundaries are non-negotiable
You can have empathy and protect yourself. You don’t have to sit in the room, ignore your gut and hope it works out.
Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is step out.
Why this matters to you
Chances are, you won’t find yourself stuck in a parole office with a psychotic man whose eyes just turned to black voids. 😬
But – you will face situations where someone’s mood flips for no reason that is obvious to you at the time.
A partner, a boss, a stranger in traffic.
Too often, we ignore our body’s red flags because we don’t want to upset someone, look rude, or “overreact.” 🚩
That’s when we get hurt, burnt out, or stuck in cycles that don’t serve us.
Your intuition isn’t woo-woo BS. It’s a survival tool.
And every time you override it, you chip away at your own safety and self-trust. 🥺
Here’s my challenge for you
Where in your life are you ignoring your gut because you don’t want to upset someone else?
What would change if you trusted yourself enough to listen (and act) when your body whispers (or yells), this isn’t safe?
Next time your body says RUN, will you listen? 👂🏼
Want help tuning into your instincts and regulating your state so you stop second-guessing yourself?
That’s literally what I do with my clients – teach them tools, strategies and savage truth bombs that help you trust yourself again.
DM me if you’re ready to start backing you.
Catcha on the flip side,
