GREMLINS & GOATS
THE FRAMEWORK BEHIND THE WORK
Maybe your life makes more sense than you think.
The way you think, respond, relate, protect yourself, and move through the world did not come from nowhere.
Gremlins & Goats is a practical framework for understanding how experiences become meaning, meaning becomes stories, and stories become the patterns that shape how you think, feel, and live.
EXPERIENCES → MEANING → STORIES → PATTERNS → CHOICES
THE FRAMEWORK
We have experiences. We make meaning from those experiences. That meaning becomes stories about ourselves, other people, and the world. Those stories influence the patterns we repeat. Eventually, those patterns can start to feel less like something we do and more like something we are.
Gremlins & Goats asks a different question: What if that is not who you are? What if it is something you learned?
And if you learned it, maybe you can practice something different.
GREMLINS & GOATS SHEDDING SHAME
THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT
Gremlins & Goats began as a way to put language around the stories, shame, and protective patterns I was seeing in my work and in my own life.
The book introduces the framework, the Gremlin archetypes, and a practical way to begin identifying the patterns underneath how you think, feel, and respond.
Gremlins & Goats: Shedding Shame was written by Lexie Loman, LPC, and originally published under the name Lexie Lea.
THE PATTERNS THAT ONCE MADE SENSE.
MEET YOUR GREMLIN
A Gremlin is a protective pattern that developed for a reason.
At some point, that pattern probably worked. It helped you belong, stay connected, feel safer, or make sense of something you did not yet have the words for.
The problem is not that you developed the pattern. The problem is when the pattern keeps running long after you need it.
keep everyone happy
get everything right
stay in control
avoid conflict
take care of everybody else
stay small
keep pushing
earn approval
avoid rejection
GREMLINS HAVE PERSONALITIES
ARCHETYPES MAKE PATTERNS EASIER TO RECOGNIZE
People-Pleasing Paula
Connection can start to feel dependent on keeping everyone happy.
Overwhelmed Olivia
Everything feels important, everything feels urgent, and somehow you do not know where to begin.
Perfectionist Patricia
Getting it right can start to feel connected to worth, respect, belonging, or safety.
You may recognize one immediately. You may see yourself in several. Or your Gremlin may look completely different. The names just make the patterns easier to recognize.
Never-Enough Nancy
No matter how much you do, achieve, or give, it still does not feel like enough.
Too-Much Tina
You may learn to shrink yourself because being fully seen feels risky.
Undeserving Ursula
Receiving care, rest, love, or success can feel uncomfortable or unsafe.
Broken Bobby
Pain or struggle can become a story that something is fundamentally wrong with you.
Frozen Freddie
When the nervous system gets overwhelmed, stopping can become the safest option.
Imposter Irving
You may feel like you're one mistake away from being called out for the fraud you actually are.
YOUR GREMLIN LEARNED HOW TO PROTECT YOU. YOUR GOAT HELPS YOU CHOOSE WHAT LEADS NOW.
SO WHAT'S A GOAT?
A Goat is not positive thinking. It is not pretending the Gremlin is not there. And it is not about getting rid of the parts of yourself that learned to protect you.
Your Goat represents grounded truth, chosen direction, self-trust, and your capacity to act intentionally.
I can hear the Gremlin and still choose something different.
You can hold the boundary while someone is disappointed. Rest even when there is more you could do. Try something without knowing you will get it right. Speak even when part of you wants to stay small. Make a choice even when you are afraid.
The Gremlin does not have to disappear for the Goat to lead.
KNOWING ISN'T THE SAME AS LIVING.
GREMLINS & GOATS + THE UNBINDING
Gremlins & Goats gives you language for understanding the patterns. The Unbinding gives you a guided process for working with them.
If you want to move beyond recognizing the pattern and begin working through the framework step by step, The Unbinding is the Guided Journaling Journey built around this work.
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