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Masking & The Nervous System: What We Lose to Fit In
July 30, 2026 at 4:00:00 PM
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In his second guest appearance on Embodied Dialogues, author and sensorimotor psychotherapist Sean Inderbitzen will explore with host Jan Winhall the deeply human experience of masking, also known as camouflaging.
Masking is often described as a cognitive and behavioral strategy, often automatic, where individuals mute elements of their personality, emotions and neurodivergent attributes to fit the dominant social narrative avoiding judgement, and shame for difference.
This conversation invites an embodied and compassionate lens, honoring that we all navigate a balance of the longing for the authentic expression of parts and the self-regulation from adult self in the presence of social threat.
They will discuss balancing these two competing desires for expression and protection in the context of belonging in both interpersonal relationships (close relationships, family) and social relationships (work, school, friends), and how they can quietly exert a hidden cost if not observed mindfully.
Too often, being different is misunderstood. It can and is disruptive, while simultaneously is what gives us advent of technologies like the iPhone. Balancing these competing needs for expression and protection consciously, both accounting for the needs of the Me and the We.
Rather than aiming for full sameness or difference, this dialogues moves into how using applied neural exercises we can flip the vagal switch and bring online the ventral system to accurately evaluate the competing urges to express and protect based on the relational context (social or interpersonal).
To fully appreciate this dialogue, beforehand, registrants are asked to listen to three versions of the song Such Great Heights: the original by Ben Gibbard (Postal Service), the Iron and Wine version, and the version by Jeremy Zucker.
About Sean:
Sean M. Inderbitzen, DSW, LCSW, is an autist psychotherapist and researcher through Mayo Clinic Health System, and the author of the Intepersonal Neurobiology Series work Autism in Polyvagal Terms (Norton, 2024). He serves as a clincial advisor to companies like Unyte Health, Stanford Unviersity, and Drexel University on issues related to autism and polyvagal theory. He regularly trains healthcare professionals to be more confident when working with people on the spectrum.
