EPISODE · Jul 16, 2026 · 26 MIN
The Link Between Anxiety, People Pleasing, and Procrastination
from Everyday Therapy · host Sagent Behavioral Health
The hosts share their own personal battles with relational perfectionism and outline how an over-attunement to others can cause a person to completely lose touch with their own identity. This conversation offers a deeply validating look at why we overcommit, how avoidance morphs into procrastination, and practical DBT-based tools to break the cycle. Tune in to Discover: The Root of People Pleasing: Why the automatic urge to say "yes" is actually a survival skill designed to avoid the discomfort of conflict, disapproval, or rejection. Kindness vs. People Pleasing: The critical psychological boundary that separates an intrinsic desire to help from an anxiety-driven fear of loss or obligation. The Irritability Mask: How chronic people pleasing breeds hidden resentment and unmet expectations, frequently surfacing as anxiety-fueled irritability. The Anxiety-Procrastination Loop: How tasks tied to a person's self-worth become emotionally loaded, forcing the brain into a loop of stress, avoidance, and intensified guilt. The Courtroom of Guilt: Why people pleasers naturally adopt an "innocent until proven guilty" mindset in relationships and how to challenge it. Do you have feedback or topic requests? Email us at [email protected] We'd love to hear from you! Follow along:InstagramFacebookNystrom & Associates
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What this episode covers
In this episode of Everyday Therapy, Brett Cushing, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and Dr. Karin Ryan, Licensed Psychologist, pull back the curtain on two incredibly common behaviors: people pleasing and procrastination. While often dismissed as minor habit quirks or personality traits, Brett and Karin reveal how both are actually self-protective survival mechanisms driven by underlying anxiety.
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The Link Between Anxiety, People Pleasing, and Procrastination
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