Trust primes the brain; fears prevents the brain from learning.

Affirmation and rapport are really about building trust, not self-esteem. Trust and fear are inversely related; fear activates the amygdala and the release of cortisol. Cortisol stops all learning for about 20 minutes and stays in the body for up to 3 hours. Remember, when the brain feels there’s a potential threat based on past experience with a particular person or because of one’s own implicit bias or marginalized status in the larger sociopolitical context, the amygdala goes into action and “hijacks” the brain’s other systems, throwing the body into defensive fight, flight, or freeze mode. Trust deactivates the amygdala and blocks the release of cortisol. (Location 1896)