The Science of Stuck: Understanding Trauma as “Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast”
If you’ve ever wondered why you can know exactly what to do and still not do it — The Science of Stuck by Britt Frank is your book.
Frank, a licensed therapist and trauma specialist, tackles the messy space between knowing and doing — that frustrating gray zone where logic says “move forward,” but your body says “nope.” She reframes “stuckness” not as laziness or lack of discipline, but as a nervous system problem rooted in trauma, stress, and overwhelm.
And here’s the part that hit me the hardest: trauma doesn’t just mean something catastrophic.
Frank defines trauma as “too much, too soon, and too fast.”
Trauma Isn’t About What Happened — It’s About What Overwhelmed You
This definition breaks away from the old, clinical view of trauma as something only associated with war, assault, or natural disasters. Instead, it zooms in on capacity.
If your system was flooded — by emotion, pressure, or responsibility — faster than you could process it, that’s trauma. Period.
For high performers, this is crucial to understand. Many of us have built our identities around “handling it all.” We normalize stress that would flatten most people. Then we wonder why our bodies start rebelling — through exhaustion, anxiety, procrastination, or burnout.
As Frank puts it, “You can’t logic your way out of a nervous system response.”
Why Getting “Unstuck” Starts With the Body
The brilliance of The Science of Stuck is that it blends neuroscience with practical strategies. Frank doesn’t just tell you to “feel your feelings.” She explains what’s happening in the brain when you freeze, overthink, or avoid — and how to move through it.
When you feel stuck, it’s not a motivation issue — it’s your nervous system trying to protect you. The body doesn’t care about your calendar or your goals; it cares about safety.
That’s why real movement starts with regulation, not self-blame.
Some of the tools Frank highlights include:
Body-based grounding: simple sensory actions (like naming what you see or feeling your feet on the floor) to bring your brain back online.
Micro-action: breaking down goals into the smallest, least-threatening possible steps to reintroduce a sense of agency.
Language shifts: saying “my brain is doing a fear response” instead of “I’m a failure.” It separates identity from reaction.
Stuckness as a Signal, Not a Flaw
This book reframes “stuck” as information. If you’re stuck, something inside you is overwhelmed — too much, too soon, too fast. That doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means your nervous system is trying to keep you safe.
And once you stop fighting your body and start listening to it, momentum returns almost naturally.
Why This Matters for High Performers
If you live in a constant cycle of stress, achievement, and collapse, this book is a mirror you might not want — but definitely need.
As a trauma-informed performance psychology practitioner, I see this pattern all the time. People think they’re “burned out” from overwork, but often they’re stuck in a nervous system loop. The solution isn’t another productivity hack. It’s learning to downshift before your system crashes.
The Science of Stuck gives language to that process. It’s about reclaiming curiosity instead of control — asking, “What is my stuckness trying to protect me from?”
The Takeaway
Trauma isn’t always a dramatic event. Sometimes it’s just life happening too fast for your brain to keep up.
Frank’s work reminds us that getting unstuck isn’t about forcing action — it’s about creating safety so the body and brain can start moving again.
When you slow down enough to regulate, reflect, and rebuild, progress becomes possible.
And that’s the real science of getting unstuck.
