Respond
Overwhelm Reset
Fight, Flight, Freeze & Fawn Toolkit
How do I get through today?
You don’t need to rethink your career this afternoon. You need to get through it.
Not the next six months. Today. You’re past the point of thinking clearly about it and you still have to be functional in an hour. A 36-page workbook of practical options, designed to be used while you are depleted.
In the moment, you only need the two-page quick reference. The rest is there when you have more room.
Written by Suzanne Robertson, registered psychologist
A$19 · 36-page PDF workbook · Instant download
Get Overwhelm Reset — $19Want RECALIBRATE as well? Overwhelm Reset + RECALIBRATE — $35
Is this for you?
- Everything feels urgent at once, and you can’t work out what to do first.
- You go blank in front of the next task, or keep busy with everything except the task you most need to do.
- You catch yourself snapping at people, or saying yes to everyone to keep the peace.
- “Just breathe” is meant to help, but you need something specific enough to use in the moment.
Why fight, flight, freeze and fawn?
Overwhelm doesn’t always look the same. You might feel activated and ready to push back, restless and driven to get away, blank and unable to start, or focused on keeping other people happy.
The workbook uses the familiar fight, flight, freeze and fawn labels as practical shorthand — not four fixed biological states or a diagnostic test. Responses can overlap and shift. It helps you notice which pattern fits best right now and choose one thing to try.
Free explainers: fight, flight, freeze and fawn · nervous system regulation.
What this helps you do
Work out what is happening
Get from “Something is happening and I can’t think straight” to “This looks closest to what’s happening right now.”
Know what to try next
Each pattern comes with a small set of practical things to try. Not twenty strategies. Pick one that fits what you are noticing and try that first.
Start even when you can’t tell
You don’t have to work out which pattern it is before you can do anything. There are two lower-demand starting points for when you’re too overloaded to sort it out first.
Make the moment more manageable
Shorten the distance between “I can’t think straight” and “Okay. This is the one thing I’m doing next.”
What you get
36-page PDF workbook
Designed to be used while you are depleted, not studied when you are feeling fine.
A page for each pattern
Fight, flight, freeze and fawn, with signs you may recognise in your body, thoughts and behaviour.
Practical options for each pattern
Two pages per pattern, with worked examples and practical options. Most options take around 30–60 seconds to begin.
Two-page quick reference
Pattern → What to try. Keep it on your phone, photograph it or print it.
Two lower-demand starting points
The feet press, or a long, slow exhale — for when you can’t tell which pattern fits.
Tracking + your own toolkit
Pages to note what helped, what didn’t, and what you want to reach for next time.
Inside the workbook
What happens when overwhelm hits
What your brain and body do when something is detected as a threat, where fight, flight, freeze and fawn fit, and the window of tolerance.
Meet the four patterns
One page for each pattern, then a gentle reflection on how yours tend to show up — not a test, and not a diagnosis.
What actually helps
Options for each pattern, from the physiological sigh and the feet press to tiny movements and an internal check-in, each with a worked example.
Why simple techniques work
What the research says about these tools, including what is well established and what is still emerging.
Tracking without pressure
Noticing what helped, even a little, and making a reset toolkit of your own.
Take a look inside
See where the four patterns fit
Four useful categories — and why that is not the same as four equivalent physiological states.
Keep the quick reference close
Find the row that matches what is happening right now, then pick one thing from What helps.
Try a tool in the moment
Two of the flight tools, each with a short worked example.
How to use it
You do not need to complete the workbook in order.
When thinking is difficult, you don’t have to remember the whole workbook. Go to the quick reference, find the closest pattern and choose one next step.
You do not need to use every technique, and you do not need to become good at all four patterns. Come back to the explanations when you have more room.
Keep the quick reference on your phone, photograph it, print it, or leave it somewhere you tend to get overwhelmed.
One useful next step is enough.
Is this the right resource?
Overwhelm Reset or RECALIBRATE?
Overwhelm Reset — $19
Choose this if you can’t think straight right now and need to get through today — somewhere to start, and one practical next step.
RECALIBRATE — $22
Choose this when you can think again and the question has become what needs to change — stay, change something, leave, or not yet.
See RECALIBRATEAbout the author
Suzanne Robertson
Psychologist · Founder, Still Cracked
Suzanne Robertson is a registered psychologist with more than twenty-five years’ experience. Her Master of Counselling Psychology research focused on burnout, and her work includes burnout, workplace psychological harm and recovery.
She created Still Cracked to turn psychology and research into practical, plain-English resources people can use outside the therapy room.
Questions before you buy
How do I get it?
Straight after payment, your download link appears on the order confirmation page, and the same link is emailed to you. Nothing is posted, and you don’t need to create an account.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. It is an A4 PDF that reads on a phone, tablet or laptop, and prints cleanly. Save or photograph the two-page quick reference so it is there when you need it.
Is this therapy or a diagnosis?
No. Still Cracked is education, not treatment. The workbook offers practical options for getting through a hard moment, but it does not assess or diagnose you, and the four patterns are not a test. If overwhelm is happening often, your GP or a psychologist is a good place to start. If you are in crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or 000 in an emergency.
What if it isn’t what I need?
Because it downloads instantly, change-of-mind refunds aren’t offered, so look through the sample pages and the comparison above before you buy. If the file doesn’t arrive, won’t open or isn’t what this page describes, email hello@stillcracked.com and it will be put right. Read the refund policy.
Get Overwhelm Reset
It doesn’t make overwhelm stop happening — it gives you somewhere to start when it does.
A$19 · 36-page PDF workbook · Instant download
Get Overwhelm Reset — $19Overwhelm Reset + RECALIBRATE — $35
Instant download: your link appears on the order confirmation page and is emailed to you. A4 PDF, for screen or print.
Still Cracked is education, not treatment.
Change of mind isn’t covered on instant downloads. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected: if something doesn’t arrive, won’t open, or isn’t what was described, email hello@stillcracked.com and it will be put right.