Healing from Complex Trauma (C-PTSD)

Kinds of Trauma that Result in Complex-PTSD

• Emotional, physical, or sexual abuse in childhood
• Emotional detachment, neglect, and isolation
• Attachment injuries resulting from caregivers
• Emotionally unavailable parenting
• Witnessing parental conflicts or domestic violence
• Experiences of abandonment or inconsistent caregiving
• Repeated exposure to fear, shame, or rejection
• Growing up in foster care or institutional systems
• Living in marginalized or systemically oppressed communities

For many, it is helpful to begin with an understanding of their Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Score.

The ACE Score highlights how emotional and physical health symptoms are often linked to unresolved childhood trauma. However, it is not a replacement for a full mental health evaluation and should be interpreted within the broader context of therapy and support.

🔗 Click here to calculate your ACE score

Learn More About The Adverse Childhood Experiences Score

Symptoms of Complex Trauma in Adults

Typical PTSD symptoms involve intrusive memories, flashbacks, avoidance of thinking about the trauma, and nightmares.

However, in those with Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), the impact is deeper—affecting a person’s sense of identity, ability to trust themselves and others, capacity to regulate emotions, and interpersonal relationships.

Dissociation, self-harm, and coping with substances or addictions are also common in those living with C-PTSD.

Latest Research Highlights

Research on complex trauma shows that many people develop coping mechanisms such as

• Pleasing and over-apologizing
• Risk-avoiding and hyper-vigilance for danger
• Conflict avoidance and people-pleasing
• Perfectionism and over-performing
• Deep struggles with emotional intimacy

Learn more from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network , which offers extensive research and education on complex trauma in children and adults.

Common C-PTSD Triggers

When someone lives with Complex PTSD, triggers—both known and unconscious—can provoke intense emotional, psychological, or somatic reactions.

Examples of Common Triggers

• Body language, tone, or expressions perceived as threatening
• Conflict, confrontation, or criticism
• Feeling rejected, abandoned, excluded, or let down
• Relational disappointment or betrayal
• Physical proximity or emotional intimacy that feels unsafe
• Being misunderstood or emotionally overlooked

According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network , understanding and working with personal triggers is a foundational step in healing Complex PTSD.

Coping Patterns in Complex PTSD

Many coping behaviors in C-PTSD are described as “safety behaviors”—protective in function, but they often prolong distress rather than resolve it.

Examples of Coping Behaviors

• Daydreaming, zoning out, checking out, or switching off
• Using play or imagination in childhood to distract from distress
• Adult forms of distraction (e.g. screen use, work, media)
• Using food, or being preoccupied with weight and appearance
• Turning to substances, alcohol, spending, or social media
• Workaholism, perfectionism, and overachieving to feel worthy
• Avoiding feelings, triggers, people, or situations
• Pre-emptive planning or rehearsing as a defence
• Anxiously preparing for worst-case scenarios

Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

Treatments for C-PTSD: What Helps and Why

Healing from Complex PTSD is not a one-size-fits-all process. It often requires therapies that go beyond traditional talk therapy—approaches that work with the body, nervous system, and the fragmented parts of the self. Below are several evidence-informed methods that support long-term recovery:

• Deep Brain Reorienting Therapy; DBR works by guiding attention to early bodily responses to threat, addressing deep physiological shock, and helping the nervous system process trauma more effectively than talk-only approaches. Although research is still growing, these results support DBR’s potential as a trauma therapy that targets PTSD at both psychological and neurobiological levels.
• Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy—Helps individuals work compassionately with inner parts, unburden past trauma, and restore internal harmony. Especially effective for survivors of childhood and relational trauma.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)—Uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories. Backed by decades of research and recommended for PTSD by the World Health Organization and APA.
• Somatic Experiencing (SE)—Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, SE works with the body’s stored trauma responses and supports nervous system regulation.
• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)—A structured approach that helps children, adolescents, and adults process trauma through cognitive restructuring and emotional skill-building.
• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy—Integrates somatic therapy with attachment theory and cognitive approaches to address how trauma lives in the body and interrupts developmental pathways.