Eric Conklin
@ericconk.bsky.social
Writer | Creator of Wound Theory™
Unpacking how trauma, shame, and emotional survival shape identity, politics, and belief.
🌐 woundtheory.com
📚 ericlane11.substack.com
Unpacking how trauma, shame, and emotional survival shape identity, politics, and belief.
🌐 woundtheory.com
📚 ericlane11.substack.com
Pinned
Eric Conklin
@ericconk.bsky.social
· Dec 11
Working hypothesis I’ve been chasing for a while:
Some of the most intense political behavior isn’t about “beliefs” at all. It’s about using political groups and media as an external emotional regulator when your own system feels unreliable.
Some of the most intense political behavior isn’t about “beliefs” at all. It’s about using political groups and media as an external emotional regulator when your own system feels unreliable.
It’s one lens among many, still in development, but I think it helps explain a small, important slice of polarization.
December 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM
It’s one lens among many, still in development, but I think it helps explain a small, important slice of polarization.
ARF links early attachment disruptions → chronic emotion dysregulation → reliance on external systems (like politics) for regulation → higher probabilistic risk of identity fusion in some people, in some contexts.
December 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM
ARF links early attachment disruptions → chronic emotion dysregulation → reliance on external systems (like politics) for regulation → higher probabilistic risk of identity fusion in some people, in some contexts.
I’m building a testable framework around that: the Attachment–Regulation Framework (ARF).
December 11, 2025 at 6:19 AM
I’m building a testable framework around that: the Attachment–Regulation Framework (ARF).
Working hypothesis I’ve been chasing for a while:
Some of the most intense political behavior isn’t about “beliefs” at all. It’s about using political groups and media as an external emotional regulator when your own system feels unreliable.
Some of the most intense political behavior isn’t about “beliefs” at all. It’s about using political groups and media as an external emotional regulator when your own system feels unreliable.
December 11, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Working hypothesis I’ve been chasing for a while:
Some of the most intense political behavior isn’t about “beliefs” at all. It’s about using political groups and media as an external emotional regulator when your own system feels unreliable.
Some of the most intense political behavior isn’t about “beliefs” at all. It’s about using political groups and media as an external emotional regulator when your own system feels unreliable.
Eric Conklin
@EricConk32
·
12m
Have you ever watched a totally normal family dinner go nuclear the second politics comes up and thought: what just happened?
This is my best current answer:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
@EricConk32
·
12m
Have you ever watched a totally normal family dinner go nuclear the second politics comes up and thought: what just happened?
This is my best current answer:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
December 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Eric Conklin
@EricConk32
·
12m
Have you ever watched a totally normal family dinner go nuclear the second politics comes up and thought: what just happened?
This is my best current answer:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
@EricConk32
·
12m
Have you ever watched a totally normal family dinner go nuclear the second politics comes up and thought: what just happened?
This is my best current answer:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
For a lot of people, politics and religion aren’t “topics.”
They’re identity and emotion-regulation systems.
That’s why they blow up holidays.
I tried to spell this out in a new essay:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
They’re identity and emotion-regulation systems.
That’s why they blow up holidays.
I tried to spell this out in a new essay:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
Why We’re Told Not To Talk About Politics or Religion
It’s not about manners. It’s about nervous systems.
ericlane11.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:23 PM
For a lot of people, politics and religion aren’t “topics.”
They’re identity and emotion-regulation systems.
That’s why they blow up holidays.
I tried to spell this out in a new essay:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
They’re identity and emotion-regulation systems.
That’s why they blow up holidays.
I tried to spell this out in a new essay:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-were-t...
If politics has ever felt like a drug you can’t quite quit, even though it’s wrecking your mood, this is for you.
I wrote about why facts bounce off once your political tribe becomes emotional life support:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-politi...
I wrote about why facts bounce off once your political tribe becomes emotional life support:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-politi...
Why Politics Feels Like a Drug (And Why Facts Don’t Work Anymore)
When your political tribe becomes emotional life support, fact-checks don’t stand a chance.
ericlane11.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:11 PM
If politics has ever felt like a drug you can’t quite quit, even though it’s wrecking your mood, this is for you.
I wrote about why facts bounce off once your political tribe becomes emotional life support:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-politi...
I wrote about why facts bounce off once your political tribe becomes emotional life support:
ericlane11.substack.com/p/why-politi...
Update: we’ve passed 300 responses, thank you! 🎉 I’m aiming for a balanced sample (across viewpoints & interest levels). If you’re 18+ and have 8–10 mins, your perspective would help a lot. Anonymous survey👇
forms.gle/nSdjUq865wWK...
forms.gle/nSdjUq865wWK...
August 25, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Update: we’ve passed 300 responses, thank you! 🎉 I’m aiming for a balanced sample (across viewpoints & interest levels). If you’re 18+ and have 8–10 mins, your perspective would help a lot. Anonymous survey👇
forms.gle/nSdjUq865wWK...
forms.gle/nSdjUq865wWK...
Thanks to everyone who’s taken it so far 🙏 I’m aiming for 600–800 responses to make the results strong. If you know anyone 18+ who might be interested, it would be a huge help to share the link with them!
August 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Thanks to everyone who’s taken it so far 🙏 I’m aiming for 600–800 responses to make the results strong. If you know anyone 18+ who might be interested, it would be a huge help to share the link with them!
Reposted by Eric Conklin
I’m running a new research survey: Why We Believe What We Believe.
It looks at how early experiences and emotional regulation shape political identity and reactions under stress.
10–12 mins
Anonymous
Age 18+
Link: forms.gle/Udx8mG3e9xGr...
Grateful for anyone who participates or shares.
It looks at how early experiences and emotional regulation shape political identity and reactions under stress.
10–12 mins
Anonymous
Age 18+
Link: forms.gle/Udx8mG3e9xGr...
Grateful for anyone who participates or shares.
Why We Believe What We Believe: Emotions, Identity, and Belief Formation
forms.gle
August 23, 2025 at 4:30 AM
I’m running a new research survey: Why We Believe What We Believe.
It looks at how early experiences and emotional regulation shape political identity and reactions under stress.
10–12 mins
Anonymous
Age 18+
Link: forms.gle/Udx8mG3e9xGr...
Grateful for anyone who participates or shares.
It looks at how early experiences and emotional regulation shape political identity and reactions under stress.
10–12 mins
Anonymous
Age 18+
Link: forms.gle/Udx8mG3e9xGr...
Grateful for anyone who participates or shares.
📄 On the Origin of Human Fusion — my new paper on how childhood wounds drive politics, cults, depression & more:
doi.org/10.17605/OSF...
doi.org/10.17605/OSF...
August 12, 2025 at 8:20 PM
📄 On the Origin of Human Fusion — my new paper on how childhood wounds drive politics, cults, depression & more:
doi.org/10.17605/OSF...
doi.org/10.17605/OSF...
Why do adults argue like kids saying “my dad can beat up your dad”?
Because they never grew past childhood identity fusion — they just replaced “dad” with:
- My party
- My religion
- My company
- My theory
Because they never grew past childhood identity fusion — they just replaced “dad” with:
- My party
- My religion
- My company
- My theory
OSF | Sign in
doi.org
August 12, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Why do adults argue like kids saying “my dad can beat up your dad”?
Because they never grew past childhood identity fusion — they just replaced “dad” with:
- My party
- My religion
- My company
- My theory
Because they never grew past childhood identity fusion — they just replaced “dad” with:
- My party
- My religion
- My company
- My theory
What did prehistoric humans do for therapy, before language even existed?
No Freud. No journaling. No 50-minute sessions.
But they still felt fear, grief, shame, loneliness.
So how did they heal?
No Freud. No journaling. No 50-minute sessions.
But they still felt fear, grief, shame, loneliness.
So how did they heal?
July 23, 2025 at 7:24 PM
What did prehistoric humans do for therapy, before language even existed?
No Freud. No journaling. No 50-minute sessions.
But they still felt fear, grief, shame, loneliness.
So how did they heal?
No Freud. No journaling. No 50-minute sessions.
But they still felt fear, grief, shame, loneliness.
So how did they heal?
If you made it to the couch 🛋️, thanks for staying for the whole hour.
The satire bites — but the logic tracks.
Interpretation cuts both ways.
#PsychTwitter #TherapyHumor #Falsifiability #InterpretTheInterpreter #ClinicalPsych #DepthPsychology #Projection
The satire bites — but the logic tracks.
Interpretation cuts both ways.
#PsychTwitter #TherapyHumor #Falsifiability #InterpretTheInterpreter #ClinicalPsych #DepthPsychology #Projection
July 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
If you made it to the couch 🛋️, thanks for staying for the whole hour.
The satire bites — but the logic tracks.
Interpretation cuts both ways.
#PsychTwitter #TherapyHumor #Falsifiability #InterpretTheInterpreter #ClinicalPsych #DepthPsychology #Projection
The satire bites — but the logic tracks.
Interpretation cuts both ways.
#PsychTwitter #TherapyHumor #Falsifiability #InterpretTheInterpreter #ClinicalPsych #DepthPsychology #Projection
Why do some therapists defend repackaged Freudianism so fiercely?
Let’s interpret them for once — using their own model.
🧵 Why Psychodynamic Therapists Become Psychodynamic Therapists
A satirical thread.
🛋️ Lie back. Let’s begin.👇
x.com/EricConk32/s...
Let’s interpret them for once — using their own model.
🧵 Why Psychodynamic Therapists Become Psychodynamic Therapists
A satirical thread.
🛋️ Lie back. Let’s begin.👇
x.com/EricConk32/s...
Eric Conklin on X: "Why do some therapists defend repackaged Freudianism so fiercely? Let’s interpret them for once — using their own model. 🧵 Why Psychodynamic Therapists Become Psychodynamic Therapists A satirical thread. 🛋️ Lie back. Let’s begin.👇" / X
Why do some therapists defend repackaged Freudianism so fiercely? Let’s interpret them for once — using their own model. 🧵 Why Psychodynamic Therapists Become Psychodynamic Therapists A satirical thread. 🛋️ Lie back. Let’s begin.👇
x.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Why do some therapists defend repackaged Freudianism so fiercely?
Let’s interpret them for once — using their own model.
🧵 Why Psychodynamic Therapists Become Psychodynamic Therapists
A satirical thread.
🛋️ Lie back. Let’s begin.👇
x.com/EricConk32/s...
Let’s interpret them for once — using their own model.
🧵 Why Psychodynamic Therapists Become Psychodynamic Therapists
A satirical thread.
🛋️ Lie back. Let’s begin.👇
x.com/EricConk32/s...
🧵 Why Jonathan Shedler May Have Stalled Progress in Psychotherapy — While Trying to Defend It
This isn’t personal.
It’s about frameworks, influence, and accountability.
Let’s see how repackaged Freudianism got a second life — just as therapy was turning empirical.
x.com/EricConk32/s...
This isn’t personal.
It’s about frameworks, influence, and accountability.
Let’s see how repackaged Freudianism got a second life — just as therapy was turning empirical.
x.com/EricConk32/s...
Eric Conklin on X: "🧵 Why Jonathan Shedler May Have Stalled Progress in Psychotherapy — While Trying to Defend It This isn’t personal. It’s about frameworks, influence, and accountability. Let’s see how repackaged Freudianism got a second life — just as therapy was turning empirical." / X
🧵 Why Jonathan Shedler May Have Stalled Progress in Psychotherapy — While Trying to Defend It This isn’t personal. It’s about frameworks, influence, and accountability. Let’s see how repackaged Freudianism got a second life — just as therapy was turning empirical.
x.com
July 16, 2025 at 3:41 AM
🧵 Why Jonathan Shedler May Have Stalled Progress in Psychotherapy — While Trying to Defend It
This isn’t personal.
It’s about frameworks, influence, and accountability.
Let’s see how repackaged Freudianism got a second life — just as therapy was turning empirical.
x.com/EricConk32/s...
This isn’t personal.
It’s about frameworks, influence, and accountability.
Let’s see how repackaged Freudianism got a second life — just as therapy was turning empirical.
x.com/EricConk32/s...
Do you think ‘insight’ is a real thing that causes change, or just the story we tell ourselves after the nervous system has already shifted?
July 10, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Do you think ‘insight’ is a real thing that causes change, or just the story we tell ourselves after the nervous system has already shifted?
This isn’t anti-therapy.
It’s a call for sequencing.
Start with the body.
The stories can come later.
If this resonates, share it.
A lot of people are blaming themselves for what their nervous system never chose.
It’s a call for sequencing.
Start with the body.
The stories can come later.
If this resonates, share it.
A lot of people are blaming themselves for what their nervous system never chose.
July 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
This isn’t anti-therapy.
It’s a call for sequencing.
Start with the body.
The stories can come later.
If this resonates, share it.
A lot of people are blaming themselves for what their nervous system never chose.
It’s a call for sequencing.
Start with the body.
The stories can come later.
If this resonates, share it.
A lot of people are blaming themselves for what their nervous system never chose.
In this piece, I unpack:
– Why talk therapy fails for early trauma
– The 3 trauma layers (evolutionary, developmental, narrative)
– A full healing framework grounded in science, not slogans
Read it here: ericlane11.substack.com/p/before-lan...
– Why talk therapy fails for early trauma
– The 3 trauma layers (evolutionary, developmental, narrative)
– A full healing framework grounded in science, not slogans
Read it here: ericlane11.substack.com/p/before-lan...
Before Language, Was There Trauma?
Why Talk Therapy Can’t Be the Whole Story
ericlane11.substack.com
July 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
In this piece, I unpack:
– Why talk therapy fails for early trauma
– The 3 trauma layers (evolutionary, developmental, narrative)
– A full healing framework grounded in science, not slogans
Read it here: ericlane11.substack.com/p/before-lan...
– Why talk therapy fails for early trauma
– The 3 trauma layers (evolutionary, developmental, narrative)
– A full healing framework grounded in science, not slogans
Read it here: ericlane11.substack.com/p/before-lan...
The body remembers what the mind never knew how to say.
Trying to talk your way through trauma is like reasoning with a smoke detector.
It’s not “telling a story” about fire.
It’s sounding the alarm.
Trying to talk your way through trauma is like reasoning with a smoke detector.
It’s not “telling a story” about fire.
It’s sounding the alarm.
July 10, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The body remembers what the mind never knew how to say.
Trying to talk your way through trauma is like reasoning with a smoke detector.
It’s not “telling a story” about fire.
It’s sounding the alarm.
Trying to talk your way through trauma is like reasoning with a smoke detector.
It’s not “telling a story” about fire.
It’s sounding the alarm.
Insight-based therapy doesn’t fail because clients are resistant
It fails when it targets the wrong system.
You can’t talk your way out of a flinch.
Because the wound isn’t linguistic.
It fails when it targets the wrong system.
You can’t talk your way out of a flinch.
Because the wound isn’t linguistic.
July 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Insight-based therapy doesn’t fail because clients are resistant
It fails when it targets the wrong system.
You can’t talk your way out of a flinch.
Because the wound isn’t linguistic.
It fails when it targets the wrong system.
You can’t talk your way out of a flinch.
Because the wound isn’t linguistic.
True healing follows a biological sequence:
1. Physiological safety
2. Somatic awareness
3. Co-regulation
4. Cognitive integration
5. Narrative coherence
Most therapy skips to step 5.
That’s the mismatch.
1. Physiological safety
2. Somatic awareness
3. Co-regulation
4. Cognitive integration
5. Narrative coherence
Most therapy skips to step 5.
That’s the mismatch.
July 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
True healing follows a biological sequence:
1. Physiological safety
2. Somatic awareness
3. Co-regulation
4. Cognitive integration
5. Narrative coherence
Most therapy skips to step 5.
That’s the mismatch.
1. Physiological safety
2. Somatic awareness
3. Co-regulation
4. Cognitive integration
5. Narrative coherence
Most therapy skips to step 5.
That’s the mismatch.
That’s why trauma isn’t just what happened—
It’s what your body learned to do to survive.
Hypervigilance. Shutdown. Panic. Dissociation.
These aren’t beliefs to challenge.
They’re states to regulate.
It’s what your body learned to do to survive.
Hypervigilance. Shutdown. Panic. Dissociation.
These aren’t beliefs to challenge.
They’re states to regulate.
July 10, 2025 at 5:17 PM
That’s why trauma isn’t just what happened—
It’s what your body learned to do to survive.
Hypervigilance. Shutdown. Panic. Dissociation.
These aren’t beliefs to challenge.
They’re states to regulate.
It’s what your body learned to do to survive.
Hypervigilance. Shutdown. Panic. Dissociation.
These aren’t beliefs to challenge.
They’re states to regulate.