What Is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)?
If you’ve experienced prolonged, repeated trauma—especially in situations where you felt trapped or powerless—you might relate to the experience of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). Unlike PTSD, which often stems from a single traumatic event, CPTSD develops over time, usually from ongoing experiences like childhood abuse, domestic violence, neglect, or bullying. These repeated traumas don’t just affect how you respond to stress; they can also shape how you see yourself, your relationships, and the world around you.
Why CPTSD Feels So Hard
One of the most challenging aspects of CPTSD is something called learned helplessness. This happens when, after being stuck in situations where you couldn’t protect yourself or change the outcome, you start to believe that nothing you do can make a difference. Even when opportunities for change arise, it can feel impossible to take action because the trauma has taught your mind and body to expect powerlessness.
This feeling of helplessness can make CPTSD symptoms worse, leading to:
Breaking Free From Trauma and Helplessness
Healing from CPTSD involves reconnecting with your inner strength and creating a sense of safety in both your mind and body. In therapy, one of the most important steps we’ll take together is helping you regain control over your emotions and your story. This process might feel overwhelming at first—especially if support hasn’t always been there for you—but I want you to know that healing doesn’t have to happen all at once. It can happen gently, step by step, at a pace that feels right for you.
One of the ways we approach this work is through somatic therapies, which focus on healing the trauma stored in your body.
How Somatic Therapies Can Help
Trauma doesn’t just live in your mind—it’s also stored in your body. Long-term exposure to trauma can lead to physical symptoms like chronic tension, pain, or feeling disconnected from your own body. Somatic therapies recognize this and help you gently reconnect with your physical sensations in ways that feel safe and empowering.
Trauma can disrupt your body’s natural ability to regulate itself. You might find your nervous system stuck in survival modes like fight, flight, or freeze, even when you’re no longer in danger. Somatic therapies aim to restore balance, helping your body release what it’s been holding onto so you can start to feel calm and grounded again.
Here are a few somatic approaches we might explore together:
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
This gentle therapy helps you release the energy of past traumas that might still be trapped in your body. By tuning into subtle physical sensations (like tightness, warmth, or tingling), SE allows your nervous system to process and let go of stress without becoming overwhelmed. Over time, this can reduce symptoms like hypervigilance, dissociation, and emotional dysregulation.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
This approach integrates your mind and body by focusing on how trauma is held physically—like in your posture, movement patterns, or tension. By becoming aware of these patterns, you can learn new ways of moving and being that help you feel safer, stronger, and more present in your daily life.
Body-Based Mindfulness Practices
Simple practices like breathwork, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation can also be powerful tools for healing. These techniques help you notice how trauma has affected your body and give you ways to regulate your nervous system, ease physical stress, and feel more connected to yourself.
You’re Not Alone in This
CPTSD can feel overwhelming, but healing is possible. You don’t have to face it alone. Together, we’ll work to help you process what you’ve been through, rebuild your sense of control, and create a life that feels safer, freer, and more hopeful.
It’s never too late to begin your healing journey—and you don’t have to have all the answers right now. Just know that wherever you are, it’s a good place to start.
Please call 917-336-4467 or schedule below if you are interested in a free consultation.
If you’ve experienced prolonged, repeated trauma—especially in situations where you felt trapped or powerless—you might relate to the experience of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). Unlike PTSD, which often stems from a single traumatic event, CPTSD develops over time, usually from ongoing experiences like childhood abuse, domestic violence, neglect, or bullying. These repeated traumas don’t just affect how you respond to stress; they can also shape how you see yourself, your relationships, and the world around you.
Why CPTSD Feels So Hard
One of the most challenging aspects of CPTSD is something called learned helplessness. This happens when, after being stuck in situations where you couldn’t protect yourself or change the outcome, you start to believe that nothing you do can make a difference. Even when opportunities for change arise, it can feel impossible to take action because the trauma has taught your mind and body to expect powerlessness.
This feeling of helplessness can make CPTSD symptoms worse, leading to:
- Difficulty regulating emotions. You might feel overwhelmed by sadness, anger, or fear—or numb and disconnected.
- Deep shame or guilt. These emotions might whisper lies about your worth or reinforce the belief that you’re powerless.
- Negative self-image. It’s common to feel like something is wrong with you or that you’re “broken.”
- Isolation and mistrust. You may avoid relationships, struggle to trust others, or feel safer alone—even though loneliness adds to the pain.
Breaking Free From Trauma and Helplessness
Healing from CPTSD involves reconnecting with your inner strength and creating a sense of safety in both your mind and body. In therapy, one of the most important steps we’ll take together is helping you regain control over your emotions and your story. This process might feel overwhelming at first—especially if support hasn’t always been there for you—but I want you to know that healing doesn’t have to happen all at once. It can happen gently, step by step, at a pace that feels right for you.
One of the ways we approach this work is through somatic therapies, which focus on healing the trauma stored in your body.
How Somatic Therapies Can Help
Trauma doesn’t just live in your mind—it’s also stored in your body. Long-term exposure to trauma can lead to physical symptoms like chronic tension, pain, or feeling disconnected from your own body. Somatic therapies recognize this and help you gently reconnect with your physical sensations in ways that feel safe and empowering.
Trauma can disrupt your body’s natural ability to regulate itself. You might find your nervous system stuck in survival modes like fight, flight, or freeze, even when you’re no longer in danger. Somatic therapies aim to restore balance, helping your body release what it’s been holding onto so you can start to feel calm and grounded again.
Here are a few somatic approaches we might explore together:
Somatic Experiencing (SE)
This gentle therapy helps you release the energy of past traumas that might still be trapped in your body. By tuning into subtle physical sensations (like tightness, warmth, or tingling), SE allows your nervous system to process and let go of stress without becoming overwhelmed. Over time, this can reduce symptoms like hypervigilance, dissociation, and emotional dysregulation.
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
This approach integrates your mind and body by focusing on how trauma is held physically—like in your posture, movement patterns, or tension. By becoming aware of these patterns, you can learn new ways of moving and being that help you feel safer, stronger, and more present in your daily life.
Body-Based Mindfulness Practices
Simple practices like breathwork, progressive muscle relaxation, and mindfulness meditation can also be powerful tools for healing. These techniques help you notice how trauma has affected your body and give you ways to regulate your nervous system, ease physical stress, and feel more connected to yourself.
You’re Not Alone in This
CPTSD can feel overwhelming, but healing is possible. You don’t have to face it alone. Together, we’ll work to help you process what you’ve been through, rebuild your sense of control, and create a life that feels safer, freer, and more hopeful.
It’s never too late to begin your healing journey—and you don’t have to have all the answers right now. Just know that wherever you are, it’s a good place to start.
Please call 917-336-4467 or schedule below if you are interested in a free consultation.