Managing Complex PTSD: A Four-Month Journey to Healing

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (or C-PTSD) is a condition that develops in some people who have suffered repeated or prolonged trauma. Also, it’s important to note that C-PTSD is not yet recognized by the DSM-5, which is the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

It involves stress responses, such as:

Firstly, anxiety.
Having flashbacks or nightmares.
Avoiding situations, places and other things related to the traumatic event.
Heightened emotional responses, such as impulsivity or aggressiveness.
Lastly, persistent difficulties in sustaining relationships.

Examples of chronic trauma include:

Firstly, long-term child physical or sexual abuse.
Long-term domestic violence.
Being a victim of human or sex trafficking.
War.
Frequent community violence.
Lastly, while CPTSD is often associated with chronic trauma in childhood, adults who experience chronic trauma can also develop the condition.

Complex PTSD Triggers

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. Examples of PTSD Triggers (Also Known As Re-Experiencing)

Overwhelming emotions

Firstly, feeling misunderstood
Feeling invalidated
Additionally, feeling helpless
Feeling confused
Lastly, guilt

Shame spiral

Firstly, feeling like you are inadequate, bad, unworthy
Feeling like this for hours and days at a time
Difficulty separating feelings from thoughts
Lastly, feeling disconnected from your true Self, emotions, and body

Lack of boundaries

Firstly, someone touching you without permission
Someone yelling at you for something that isn’t your fault
Someone blaming you for their emotions
Lastly, someone putting their responsibility on you

Too much stimuli

Loud sounds
Bright lights
Crowds of people

Anniversaries and memories

Firstly, nightmares
Death anniversaries
Birthdays
Lastly, holidays

Feeling unsafe

No clear directions
No options or choices given
Lack of safety in your body

Intimacy

When things get too deep and intimate

Complex PTSD Symptoms

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. C-PTSD is a condition where you experience some symptoms of PTSD along with some additional symptoms, such as:

firstly, difficulty controlling your emotions
feeling very angry or distrustful towards the world
constant feelings of emptiness or hopelessness
fourthly, feeling as if you are permanently damaged or worthless
feeling as if you are completely different to other people
feeling like nobody can understand what happened to you
in addition, avoiding friendships and relationships, or finding them very difficult
often experiencing dissociative symptoms such as depersonalization or derealization
physical symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, chest pains and stomach aches
lastly, regular suicidal feelings.

Complex PTSD Treatment

CBT

Psychotherapy (talk therapy) is the main treatment for complex PTSD. Specifically, this type of psychotherapy is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) called trauma-focused CBT. Hence, this therapy takes place with a trained, licensed mental health professional, such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. It can provide support, education and guidance to you and/or your loved ones to help you function better and increase your well-being.

Basically, trauma-focused CBT involves:

Learning how your body responds to trauma and stress.
Learning how to manage symptoms.
Identifying and reframing problematic thinking patterns.
Exposure therapy.

Therefore, people with CPTSD often avoid things or situations that they associate with their trauma. Because of this, they aren’t able to learn that they can manage their fear when presented with these stimuli.

Therapists use exposure therapy for people who have CPTSD. All in all, exposure therapy slowly encourages them to enter situations that cause them anxiety and to try to stay in that situation so they can learn to cope.

 EMDR Toolbox

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. Another type of trauma-focused therapy is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). During this treatment, you focus on specific sounds or movements your therapist introduces while you think about the traumatic event(s). As a result, it aims to make the event(s) less upsetting over time.

EMDR Toolbox provides an overview of the key issues in treating these complex emotional problems. It also describes highly effective methodologies with a wide variety of clinical presentations that originate in or include disturbing traumatic memories. And it also describes how to integrate specific EMDR-related interventions with other psychotherapeutic treatments.

Each intervention is examined in detail with accompanying transcripts, client drawings, and case studies illustrating the nuances and variations in intervention application. Secured by supporting theory and current research, this EMDR book also discusses how the concepts and vocabulary of other models of separation translate directly into EMDR’s Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) language.

CPT

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is another type of trauma-focused therapy. This treatment focuses on addressing the distressing and often problematic thoughts and emotions that have developed since the traumatic event(s).

In general, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is one specific type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It is a 12-session psychotherapy for PTSD. Altogether, CPT teaches you how to evaluate and change the upsetting thoughts you have had since your trauma. By changing your thoughts, you can change how you feel.

 Complex PTSD Inpatient Treatment

A good treatment facility will have a therapist-to-client ratio that is low enough to ensure that your therapist has time to focus on you and your needs. Also, a good treatment facility will have therapists who have received specialized training in treating complex PTSD and extensive experience working with this population.

It’s also essential to find out if the program offers individual therapy sessions and group therapy sessions. Many people with complex PTSD struggle with social anxiety, so group therapy can be beneficial in helping patients get comfortable around other people again. Individual therapy is also helpful because it allows you to work on specific issues you are having trouble with outside of the group setting.

It would help if you also asked about their aftercare program and how they will help you transition back into society once treatment has ended.

Consequently, some programs offer job placement services or even financial assistance for those who need it after treatment ends; this can be especially helpful if you don’t have insurance coverage for your medication or therapy sessions after treatment ends.

Ultimately, two of the surest signs of a quality facility are a reputation that precedes them and compassionate, qualified, and polite staff.

 CPTSD Support Groups

CPTSD Safe Group
A safe support group where survivors come to receive and share support in an atmosphere that promotes healing and validation. Especially a place where your voice is heard, your feelings validated, and where encouragement is always in abundant supply.

Out of the Storm
For survivors of complex relational trauma with complex PTSD (Complex Relational Trauma Response)

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. A quick look at the best online support groups for PTSD

Firstly, best for survivors of rape, sexual abuse, and sexual assault: After Silence
Best for those seeking a large peer community: r/PTSD
Best for survivors and their loved ones: MyPTSD
Lastly, best for support on a mobile app: 7 Cups

How Can Friends and Family Help?

It can be really hard to see someone you care about experiencing the symptoms of PTSD or complex PTSD. Therefore, here are some suggestions for ways you can support them while also looking after your own wellbeing.

Listen to them
If you feel able to, you could help by:

firstly, giving them time to talk at their own pace – it’s important not to pressure them
allowing them to be upset about what has happened
additionally, not making assumptions about how they feel right now, or how they felt in the past
not dismissing their experiences by saying “it could have been worse” or questioning why they didn’t say or do something differently.
lastly, No one around me understood what I was going through. I found it hard to explain. Words just couldn’t do justice to what I was going through.

Try not to judge
If you’ve not experienced PTSD yourself, it can be hard to understand why your friend or family member can’t seem to ‘move on’. At length, it’s understandable to wish things could get back to normal, but it’s important not to blame them. Also, don’t put pressure on them to get better without the time and support they need.

Learn their triggers
Each person will have a different experience of PTSD, so it might help to talk about what sorts of situations or conversations might trigger flashbacks or difficult feelings. For example, they might be particularly distressed by loud noises, arguments or particular places. Therefore, understanding their triggers could help you to avoid these situations, and feel more prepared when flashbacks happen.

Plan ahead for difficult times
When your friend or relative is feeling well, it can be helpful to discuss with them how you can help if they become unwell or if a crisis happens. You could:

firstly, encourage them to write a crisis plan
discuss which symptoms you can look out for
get to know their triggers and plan how to cope with them.

Furthermore, this can help them to avoid crises or manage them differently in future where possible. When having these conversations, make sure you also think about how much you can cope with and try to only offer support that you feel able to give. It is important to look after yourself too.

PETE Walker – Complex PTSD “From Surviving to Thriving”

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. “I have Complex PTSD [CPTSD] and wrote this book, Complex PTSD, From Surviving to Thriving, from the perspective of someone who has experienced a great reduction of symptoms over the years. Also, I wrote it from the viewpoint of someone who has discovered many silver linings in the long, windy, bumpy road of recovering from CPTSD,” recalls Pete Walker.

“I felt encouraged to write this book because of thousands of e-mail responses to the articles on my website that repeatedly expressed gratitude for the helpfulness of my work. At this point, an often echoed comment sounded like this: At last someone gets it. I can see now that I am not bad, defective or out of control…or alone!,” he says
.
The causes of CPTSD range from severe neglect to monstrous abuse. At any rate, many survivors grow up in houses that are not homes – in families that are as loveless as orphanages and sometimes as dangerous.

If you felt unwanted, not liked, rejected, hated and/or despised for a lengthy portion of your childhood, trauma may be deeply engrained in your mind, soul and body.

Even more, this book is a practical, user-friendly self-help guide to recovering from the lingering effects of childhood trauma, and to achieving a rich and fulfilling life. It is well-illustrated with examples of my own and my clients’ journeys of recovering. This book is also for those who do not have CPTSD but want to understand and help a loved one who does.

Healing From CPTSD

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. Aside from seeking treatment for acute stress disorder, things you can do to help yourself include:

Firstly, engaging in mild exercise to help reduce stress and boost your mood.
Setting realistic goals for yourself.
Spending time with people you trust and educating them about your experience and things that may trigger symptoms.
Fourthly, identifying and seeking out comforting situations and places.
Attending a support group for people who have experienced trauma.
Finally, being patient and kind to yourself. You should expect your symptoms to improve gradually, not immediately.

Conclusion

Managing Complex PTSD can be a four-month journey to healing. It is possible to recover from complex PTSD, but it requires a lot of work. The key is finding the right treatment center and plan that works for you. Treatment for complex PTSD should include a combination of individual psychotherapy (like cognitive behavioral therapy) and holistic therapies.

Group therapy can also be beneficial because it helps people learn how to interact with others healthily, build relationships, and manage their emotions. The most important thing is finding a facility with highly qualified, compassionate, and patient staff who understand what you’re going through. Also, they are dedicated to helping you process and recover from the pain of the trauma inflicted upon you.

Articles About Complex PTSD

-Complex PTSD – Post-traumatic stress disorder

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/complex/#:~:text=Treating%20complex%20PTSD,as%20depression%20or%20alcohol%20addiction.

-Recovering from Complex PTSD: 3 Key Stages of Long-Term Healing

https://michaelgquirke.com/recovering-from-complex-ptsd-3-key-stages-of-long-term-healing

-Coping With Complex PTSD: An Exploration of Symptoms and Strategies

https://www.myndlift.com/post/coping-with-complex-ptsd-an-exploration-of-symptoms-and-strategies

Have a Good One,

Cindee Murphy, One Voice In The Vastness Of Emotions

“The mind replays, what the heart can’t delete.”

“PTSD: It’s not the person refusing to let go of the past, but the past refusing to let go of the person. When we feel weak, we drop our heads on the shoulders of others.”

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