Understanding Complex PTSD: Part 2
Healing Through Understanding the Symptoms of CPTSD
Physical Symptoms
Chronic Pain and Sleep Issues: CPTSD often manifests in physical symptoms like chronic pain or sleep disturbances due to prolonged stress affecting the body. Therapy that addresses the mind-body connection is vital in these cases. Integrating mindfulness practices, gentle yoga, and relaxation techniques into sessions can help alleviate physical discomfort and promote a sense of well-being.
Digestive Issues and Nausea: Chronic stress from CPTSD can lead to digestive problems, like IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), acid reflux, and nausea. These symptoms may arise due to the body’s prolonged fight-or-flight response, which disrupts normal digestive processes. Therapy that incorporates grounding exercises, breathwork, and nervous system regulation can help soothe these symptoms and improve overall digestive health.
Frequent Illness: Complex PTSD can weaken the immune system, making individuals more susceptible to frequent colds, infections, and overall illness. The body’s stress response, when activated over prolonged periods, can disrupt immune function, leading to greater vulnerability to physical ailments. Therapy that includes techniques for managing stress and regulating the nervous system, such as deep breathing exercises and mindfulness, can help restore immune resilience and support physical health.
Rebuilding Relationships: A Therapeutic Focus
One of the most painful aspects of CPTSD is the way it disrupts relationships. Survivors may experience intense fear of abandonment, distrust, or emotional instability in their interactions with others. Therapy helps individuals understand how trauma impacts their attachment styles and work toward building healthier, more secure relationships.
Developing Trust in Relationships: In therapy, clients are guided through the process of developing trust. This process is gradual, often involving small steps toward vulnerability and openness in safe, low-risk relationships. Therapists also help clients identify past relationship patterns and develop tools for navigating conflict, boundaries, and emotional intimacy.
Learning Healthy Boundaries: Boundaries are crucial for individuals with CPTSD, as they often struggled with power dynamics in past relationships. Therapy can focus on helping clients recognize their needs, express them clearly, and set limits in ways that protect their emotional health.
Addressing Shame and Guilt: A Key to Healing
Feelings of shame and guilt are central to CPTSD and often keep individuals trapped in cycles of self-blame. Therapy provides a compassionate space to explore these painful emotions and work toward releasing them.
Reframing Shame and Guilt in Therapy: In therapeutic settings, individuals are encouraged to explore the origins of their shame and guilt. These feelings are often tied to early experiences where they were made to feel responsible for their abuse. By reframing these narratives, clients can come to understand that they are not at fault for what happened to them. Techniques like Narrative Therapy help individuals rewrite their story, separating their identity from the trauma.
Therapeutic Approaches for CPTSD Recovery
Healing from CPTSD is not a one-size-fits-all process. Effective treatment often involves a combination of therapeutic techniques tailored to the individual's unique experiences and needs.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): This trauma-focused therapy helps individuals process and integrate traumatic memories, reducing their emotional charge and allowing for healthier emotional responses. Click here to learn more about EMDR.
Brainspotting: This brain-based therapy uses targeted eye positions to access and process stored trauma, helping reduce the emotional charge around distressing memories. This technique supports the brain’s natural capacity to heal by guiding clients to work through deeply rooted emotions for more balanced and regulated responses. Click here to learn more about Brainspotting.
Somatic Therapy: Focusing on the mind-body connection, somatic therapy helps clients become more aware of their physical sensations and how their bodies hold trauma. This can be especially helpful for individuals who experience chronic physical symptoms related to their trauma.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): CBT is a highly effective approach for addressing the negative thought patterns and behaviors that often accompany CPTSD. Clients learn to challenge distorted beliefs about themselves and others, replacing them with healthier, more realistic thoughts.
Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practices: Integrating mindfulness into therapy encourages individuals to stay present with their emotions without being overwhelmed by them. Practices that cultivate self-compassion are essential in helping individuals move away from self-blame and toward self-acceptance.
Takeaways
Healing from CPTSD is a complex but deeply rewarding journey. By engaging in therapy, practicing self-care, and building supportive relationships, individuals can reclaim their lives from the grip of trauma. Recovery may take time, but with the right tools and compassionate guidance, individuals with CPTSD can move toward a life of greater emotional balance, healthier relationships, and renewed hope for the future. The path to healing is not about perfection but about embracing one’s humanity, resilience, and capacity for growth.
Looking to connect with a trauma therapist who specializes in helping individuals navigate Complex PTSD?
Take your first step towards rebuilding safety, self-worth, and connection in your life.
(Oregon & Washington residents only)
About the author
Amanda Buduris is a licensed psychologist providing virtual Brainspotting sessions in Oregon and Washington. In-person services are available for therapy intensives only. She is trained in multiple modalities of trauma-focused healing to best support clients who are looking to feel better faster.
