Intuition or Anxiety?

You get a weird feeling in your chest. Maybe your stomach tightens, or your mind starts spinning but you can’t tell if it’s intuition trying to warn you or anxiety hijacking your body. It’s one of the most common questions we hear in therapy:

“How do I know if this feeling is real or if it’s just my anxiety again?”

Why It's Confusing

For those who’ve experienced trauma, misunderstanding around body cues is deeply familiar. Trauma can blur the lines between fear and intuition, between protective instinct and hypervigilance. According to research published by Cambridge University in 2023, trauma disrupts interoception which is the ability to accurately read and interpret the body’s internal signals. This can make it difficult to distinguish between a genuine gut instinct and an anxiety response that stems from past experiences (Cambridge, 2023).

How It Might Feel

Anxiety is fast, loud, and usually tied to fear. It says “what if” and floods the mind with urgent possibilities. It often feels like tension, racing thoughts, or dread.

Intuition is quieter. It shows up as a steady knowing, a soft tug or a subtle discomfort that doesn’t demand immediate action. Intuition is present-focused. 

Tune In

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) builds the skills needed to slow down and interpret these signals. It helps you:

• Recognize the difference between a thought and a body cue.

• Ground yourself in the present moment to reduce panic-driven decisions.

• Develop curiosity toward sensations rather than judgment.

• Rewrite internal narratives that allow you to trust your instincts.

Over time, you begin to create safety within your body enough to hear your inner voice with more clarity.

Try This Practice

The next time you’re caught in a swirl of feelings:

• Pause and Breathe: Slow, deep breaths help calm the nervous system.

  
  

• Notice the Sensation: Is it tightness, warmth, fluttering, or pressure? Where is it located? The rational brain strengthens your internal sensory awareness.

  
  

• Ask Yourself: “Is this based on evidence in the present or fear from the past?” Engaging your pre-frontal cortex builds emotional regulation.

  
  

• Wait for the Whisper: Intuition often doesn’t rush. Give it space. Learn to distinguish your nervous system’s alarm from your inner compass.

  
  

Understand Your Intuition Signals Again

If trauma has taught you not to trust yourself, therapy can be a place to relearn to trust gently at your pace. You are not broken for feeling uncertain. You are wise for asking the question. The body holds more truth than you’ve been led to believe. You deserve to feel safe in your own intuition. Let’s work together to help you find it again.