Latest / The Art of Love With Lucia / What Avoidants Do When They Secretly Want You Back
Transcript
- 0:07Three of my clients got their exes back last week.
- 0:10That's right, two of the exes were avoidance, fearful
- 0:15avoidance, who resurfaced after long periods of silence, and
- 0:19they showed the same patterns I'm about to explain to you.
- 0:24So for those who say you can't get an avoidant back, well,
- 0:26apparently you can. And all three of the exes were
- 0:30women. For those of you who say you
- 0:33can't get a woman back with no contact, well, apparently you
- 0:36can. So in this video, I'm going to
- 0:38explain exactly what avoidance do when they secretly want you
- 0:43back but are terrified of losing control.
- 0:46Hi, this is Lucia with the Art of Love.
- 0:48I'm a dating and relationship expert specializing in helping
- 0:51you get your ex back or to get over your ex.
- 0:54And welcome back my beautiful no contact army.
- 0:58Have you downloaded my app Silencio to help you say no
- 1:01contact? Well, right now I am going to
- 1:04give you a copy of my book, No Contact Secrets.
- 1:08If you leave a review in the App Store or on Google Play, not
- 1:13just a rating, a review and then send a screenshot of that and we
- 1:16will send you the book. And if you too would like to
- 1:19join our no contact army, all you have to do is subscribe and
- 1:23hit the bell notification and you're in.
- 1:27OK. So avoidance don't stop wanting
- 1:30you. They stop tolerating emotional
- 1:33exposure, meaning that they panic if you say I miss you, I
- 1:40need you. Where's this going?
- 1:43They sense that they're losing control of how close you're
- 1:45getting to them. So when an avoidant misses you
- 1:48during no contact, it doesn't feel romantic to them.
- 1:52It feels dangerous, so wanting you back means vulnerability,
- 1:59expectations and emotional responsibility.
- 2:02Don't confuse their silence with not caring about you.
- 2:06Instead of coming forward directly, they move sideways.
- 2:11They don't start with bold declarations.
- 2:14Only someone who has a secure attachment style can do that to
- 2:19an avoidant distance feels safer than honesty.
- 2:24Watching you from the shadows feels less risky than standing
- 2:27in front of you and asking for another chance.
- 2:30So they start by orbiting you, and they may go to places where
- 2:37they know you'll be. In fact, one of my clients who
- 2:39got the X back, he works at a beach and the X would show up at
- 2:43the beach and would just stare at him.
- 2:45Sometimes she would wave. Or they start stalking your
- 2:50social media. They scroll through the posts,
- 2:53they like old photos, they read the comments.
- 2:57It's their way of saying they're still there without having to
- 3:01say anything at all. And the orbit isn't just about
- 3:04you. It's about them trying to manage
- 3:06their guilt and their longing because they want proximity
- 3:11without intimacy. Silence keeps them safe enough
- 3:14to stay curious. Now next, if you have mutual
- 3:19friends, they start testing the waters through them and they try
- 3:23to sound casual, throwing your name into conversations as if
- 3:27it's no big deal. Avoidance or masters of indirect
- 3:31communication. And they'll casually say, hey,
- 3:37you know, how is she doing, by the way?
- 3:40They want to know if you're dating someone you, or if you
- 3:43seem happy, or if you ever mention them and they pretend to
- 3:48be half interested, but inside their heart is pounding because
- 3:52they wonder if you're still interested or whether you hate
- 3:55them and have moved on. And then finally, when an
- 3:59avoidance wouldn't secretly wants you back, they start
- 4:03sending mixed signals. Our favorite, right?
- 4:08Which if you weren't listening to me, you would be confused.
- 4:11So they'll text you about mail that you left at their place or
- 4:15something practical. Actually, one of my clients, his
- 4:21ex texted about a parking pass and she could have asked for
- 4:24this parking pass at any point. And all of a sudden she says,
- 4:28well, I need my parking pass and you're you.
- 4:30You didn't give me back my parking pass.
- 4:31And she sounded angry. It's like, well, just ask for
- 4:33the parking pass. What are you so upset about?
- 4:35That was just the excuse. It wasn't about the parking
- 4:39pass. She wanted to see if there was
- 4:41another chance. So yeah, they'll text about
- 4:47something practical, but then the conversation lingers longer
- 4:49than necessary, and they might make reference to an inside
- 4:53joke. And just as things are warming
- 4:56up, they'll pull away and then show back up three days later.
- 5:01Or their message may be disguised as concern.
- 5:04Hey, just checking in. Or hey, saw that you haven't
- 5:08posted for a while and this is actually less about your
- 5:12well-being and more about calming their uneasiness since
- 5:16you're not chasing them. Testing the waters feels safer
- 5:20than saying what's really on their mind, which is that they
- 5:24miss you and they want you back. That level of vulnerability for
- 5:28an avoidant feels unbearable, so they throw out a breadcrumb to
- 5:33see what you're going to do with it.
- 5:35Avoidance. Crack doors instead of opening
- 5:39conversations so they reach out with a hey stranger or hope
- 5:44you're doing well, or emoji reactions or songs or memes.
- 5:50So if it's low effort, it's best not to respond because that's
- 5:55not a conversation, it's a test they're checking.
- 5:58Are you still emotionally available?
- 6:01Will you rush toward them? Will they immediately lose
- 6:04control? And if you respond by over
- 6:07engaging, asking questions or reopening emotional territory,
- 6:13they're going to shut down. So the tone that we're going for
- 6:16is warm neutral. Think of how would you respond
- 6:22if you heard from someone that you weren't that interested in,
- 6:26but you weren't totally turned off by them either, right?
- 6:28So you're not like, super excited to hear from them, but
- 6:31you're also not like, oh, what do you want?
- 6:34You wouldn't be effusive. And I just learned that word, so
- 6:38of course I had to include it in a video.
- 6:40So you wouldn't say, Oh my God, I miss you so much or I thought
- 6:44I'd never hear from you. So don't ask what do they want?
- 6:48Don't push for clarity. Don't explain your feelings.
- 6:51Instead, you're gonna answer briefly, neutrally and warmly.
- 6:57Hey, hope you're doing well or good to hear from you.
- 7:00That's it. And then you wait because the
- 7:04follow up is the data. Their second message after you
- 7:09answer is their real message. If they want reconnection,
- 7:13they'll send another message or add context or ask something.
- 7:19Escalate slightly and if they don't they fade.
- 7:22But either way, you learn the truth without exposing yourself.
- 7:27Avoidance move in increments. They need to feel safe after the
- 7:32first reach out confirmed that you didn't demand more than
- 7:37they're ready to give at that moment and regulate their
- 7:39nervous system. If they say.
- 7:42I've been thinking a lot lately. I've grown so much that
- 7:47relationship taught me a lot. That is longing, but with armor
- 7:52on. Because with avoidance, clarity
- 7:56comes from their behavior, not their words.
- 7:59A low effort text followed by nothing is your answer.
- 8:03A low effort text followed by a second more grounded message is
- 8:08interest. Let them show you which one it
- 8:11is. Avoidance don't come back
- 8:14loudly. They come back carefully.
- 8:17The more grounded and unattached you are, the safer you become to
- 8:21return to. OK so now I want to hear from
- 8:24you. How long have you been in no
- 8:26contact and how it was going? And if you would like my help to
- 8:30get your ex back, you can contact me at
- 8:32theartoflove.net/coaching and we will send you the rates.
- 8:35They are not on the website. If you found this video helpful,
- 8:39be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on future videos.
- 8:42If you're listening to this as a podcast, also be sure to
- 8:45subscribe so you don't miss future episodes.
- 8:47And finally, remember, love inspires and powers, uplifts and
- 8:52enlightens.