The Invisible Lion is a free practical guide for carers, families, educators and professionals who support people whose behaviour can sometimes be described as challenging, distressed or difficult to understand.
When someone shouts, runs away, shuts down, refuses to engage or appears overly compliant, it can be easy to focus only on the behaviour we can see. But behaviour is often the surface. Underneath, the person may feel unsafe, overwhelmed, frightened, trapped, confused or unable to cope.
This guide introduces the idea of the “invisible lion”: the threat we may not see, but the person’s nervous system may still be reacting to. Their brain may be responding as though danger is present, even when the situation does not appear dangerous to us.
Inside the guide, you will learn how fight, flight, freeze and fawn can show up in real-life behaviour. These survival responses may appear as aggression, refusal, avoidance, anxiety, shutting down, masking, people-pleasing or appearing “fine” when the person is not fine.
This resource is designed to support a more trauma-informed and understanding-led approach to behaviour. Instead of asking only, “How do we stop this behaviour?”, it encourages carers and professionals to ask, “What might this person be afraid of?”
This free behaviour support resource is suitable for:
The guide also includes a simple response process to help reduce threat, use fewer words, give space, respond to fear rather than only behaviour, and reflect afterwards without blame.
Complete the short form on this page to download your free copy of The Invisible Lion.
