Trauma and PTSD or Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)

What is Trauma?  Trauma is defined as a response to an intensely stressful event or situation that can affect one’s physical and mental well-being.  Extensive Trauma can lead to a diagnosis of PTSD or C-PTSD (Complex PTSD).  Some of the symptoms of trauma are anxiety, fear, phobias, the desire to avoid certain situations or an inability to avoid certain situation, almost like a compulsion to expose oneself to a difficult situation.  Physical illness, panic attacks, night terrors and nightmares can be the results of untreated traumas.

When clients come to me seeking help with relationships or work situations or they struggle with anxiety or depression, I try to discover if there is any underlying trauma in the client’s past.  While many therapists and psychiatrists treat the symptoms, I want to focus on the underlying causes of the anxiety or depression or frustrations in relationships.  Treating the symptoms may relieve anxiety or depression temporarily, but it usually returns.  Treating the cause of the symptoms can result in significant reduction or elimination of the symptoms and the possibility of healthier and happier relationships.

When people think of PTSD or C-PTSD, they think of wars or death or near-death experiences.  While those serious situations can be very traumatic and may result in PTSD or Complex PTSD depending on the extent of the trauma, there are other, much more common traumas that can also leave a person struggling with PTSD and C-PTSD.  A beating, bullying, a serious physical fight, a car accident, physical or sexual abuse or the threat of any of these, with just one occurrence or over a longer period of time, are examples of trauma and complex trauma.   Rejection by parents is also traumatic.  Domestic violence is another common example of trauma that can quickly lead to PTSD. 

Most of us do not get through life without some trauma experiences.  If we are fortunate, we have a parent or friend we can talk to and talk out our feelings of sadness and pain and the fear of the trauma continuing, and get some relief.  When the abuser is a parent, relative or spouse, we often don’t have the opportunity to resolve the feelings and they can grow within us.  And if the abuser is part of the family, it is likely that the abuse will continue, sometimes for years. 

The damage that a one-time or long-lasting abuse and trauma does to our sense of ourselves, our stability, our feeling of safety, can be severe.  Yet we don’t usually recognize the symptoms.  Here is a list of possible symptoms that trauma and abuse can cause:

  *  People-pleasing                                                

  *  Choosing emotionally unavailable partners

  *  Fear of talking out issues or disagreements         

  *  Lack of healthy boundaries

  * The failure to take responsibility for bad choices and act to leave the relationship

How I work with Trauma

There are many ways to work with trauma including EMDR, Brain-Spotting, Ketamine-Assisted therapy to name a few of the more current ones.  I use Exposure Response Therapy and have found it very helpful for clients who have had severe trauma including extended sexual abuse by relatives or strangers.  It is also very useful for traumas like military experiences in Afghanistan and severe car accidents.  Using Exposure Therapy at the client’s pace helps the client to feel in control and can result in significant relief from the trauma symptoms.  Then, the therapy can focus on improving communication skills and setting healthy boundaries.