Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)
When we are forced to endure ongoing, long-term emotional, physical, or sexual abuse or neglect, it can feel like there is no escape. We do our best to cope with the situation as best as we can, but being in survival mode for long periods of time has long-term impacts on us. Folks who develop Complex PTSD experience many of the same symptoms as folks with PTSD such as feeling on edge or jumpy, the need to always watch your surroundings, nightmares, flashbacks, depression, and insomnia. However, the long-term and often interpersonal nature of the trauma that leads to C-PTSD brings about its own set of symptoms. People with C-PTSD can experience difficulty with relationships, difficulty regulating their emotions or soothing themselves (often feeling overwhelmingly big emotions or numbing their emotions out), and a difficult relationship with themselves— feeling like they are shameful or not good enough.
Reaching out to begin therapy for long-term trauma can feel overwhelming. You may feel like there is so much work to do, you will never get to the end of it. You may also feel afraid of stirring some things up that you have tried hard to bury for all these years.
We will go slowly, at a pace that feels safe and comfortable to you, working first to establish a relationship together that you can trust. Our work together will help you to gently explore yourself, your past, and where you are now so that you can begin to heal the parts of yourself that feel stuck in the trauma you were forced to endure. With time, patience, and compassion, we will help you to move toward the life that you hope for yourself.