Complex Trauma
“What’s wrong with me, that I can’t just get over this?”
You can’t get over something that’s still happening.
With complex trauma, you not only have had a prolonged traumatic experience (such as childhood abuse or neglect, experiencing domestic violence either personally or toward others, chronic childhood illness, or exploitation), but that prolonged exposure actually rewired your brain and nervous system. As a result, you continue to have flashbacks, chronic dissociation (“spacing out”), difficulties with short-term memory, trouble telling your own life story, addictive or self-sabotaging tendencies, and problems forming healthy long-term, committed relationships.
Resource: 3 Body Postures to Build Trust
Symptoms of Complex Trauma
Sudden mood swings
“Freezing up” in crowded settings
Chronic “spacing out” or dissociation
Difficulty forming long-term, stable relationships
Cutoff with family of origin
Memory lapses & difficulty forming short-term memories
Sudden thoughts of self-harm or not wanting to be on this earth anymore that seemingly come out of nowhere
Ability to narrate horrific events in your life with a calm, detached, logical demeanor, almost as if you’re telling a story that happened to someone else (detachment from yourself and your experience)
Difficulty identifying your own emotions, wants, and needs in any given moment
The good news?
You can “re-rewire” your brain and nervous system for health and safety.
In therapy, we will incorporate body, mind, heart, and soul in the healing process. You will learn how to process everything you’ve been through, so your brain and nervous system can be rewired for safety and loving, healing connection. It won’t be an easy process, and with complex trauma, the process also isn’t often as short as we’d like. But there is hope. Your brain and nervous system can learn that the present is not like the past, and you can look forward to a future that really is better than anything you’ve experienced so far.
