Specialty: Complex Trauma
What is complex trauma?
My definition of complex trauma is informed by various, expert sources which many can quickly find through an online search, and significantly through my lived professional and personal expriences while working as a psychotherapist through the years.
I define complex trauma as a stored process developed from repeated and extreme, compounding adverse experiences not limited to childhood. This said, complex trauma is more likely to develop during impressionable and more vulnerable, developmental years.
In daily life, this stored process seemingly spontaneously arises and impacts the self as a whole and its components: the physical body (nervous system and other biological systems and processes), the mind (thoughts and perceived experiences), emotions (an inseparable blend of perception, sensations, and meaning), and even what some may consider their spirit. The impact also extends to the person's life or external components that is in relationship with the self (chosen responsibilities, relationships, behavioral patterns intertwined with the environment, and opportunities and growth).
When complex trauma is considered Complex PTSD, this means it also meets criteria for PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder). PTSD develops from shocking, life threatening (whether direct, secondary, concrete, or perceived) experiences. This can include life threatening neglect or abuse, sexual abuse, incidents of self-harm, accidents, disasters or war.
Complex trauma and Complex PTSD is developed and stored due to the body, mind, emotional and spiritual self being unable to digest the repeated and compounding adverse experiences even after a significant amount of time has passed. Reasons for this inability may be due to limited internal resources or capacity that is developmentally or circumstantially appropriate. What is too much for the self does not necessarily disappear and may become an unconscious or disconnected process within the self instead.
What are symptoms of trauma?
Due to this unconscious or subconscious quality of the impact of complex trauma / Complex PTSD, someone may realize they are suffering when they notice repeated patterns in their life that feels like "survival mode", "failure to thrive", "scarcity mindset", chronic and unexplainable anxiety, self-sabotaging behavior, a pattern of unhealthy or stressful seemingly chosen patterns of behavior, relationships, responsibilities, and circumstances. The sufferer may misattribute the root of the issue to other mental health challenges that focus on a cluster of surface level symptoms, unavoidable misfortune, or "negative" external factors, people, places, or things.
What is trauma recovery and posttraumatic growth?
The therapy or recovery process of complex trauma and Complex PTSD center around growing awareness and agency at a pace that the person recovering from trauma can tolerate and integrate consciously. In a way, working through what was unable to be worked through before while being firmly in the present. I've found NARM therapy offers a very helpful framework to support therapist and client in this process.
Recovery from complex trauma or Complex PTSD does not erase what has already transpired and developed as a way of coping much like an injury or deep wound and the tissue's way of accommodating will permanently alter someone. In fact, some of what developed out of trauma may even be useful tools when it is no longer fused with and subconscious within the self. A reasonable expectation with recovery and also sometimes considered "posttraumatic growth" is how successful someone can prevent or reduce harm from re-injury or re-wounding due to their improved capacity for awareness and agency over their experience and behaviors.
Through therapy appointments, there is space to go into the nuances of complex trauma or Complex PTSD symptoms, and specific potential paths to recovery and growth. It's notable that while the EU recognizes through the ICD-11, the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) or what American mental health providers reference for diagnosis does not recognize Complex PTSD as a formal diagnosis. I may use "Other Reactions to Severe Stress" or even "Generalized Anxiety Disorder" to indicate the presence of symptoms that may stem from complex trauma or PTSD if it is a more severe case of Complex PTSD.
Links with more information:
Resources for Trauma
The following are resources I recommend for individuals navigating trauma, especially complex or developmental trauma.
Books and Podcasts
Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image and the Capacity for Relationship is written by the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM therapy) Creator and International NARM Institute Senior Faculty, Laurence Heller, PhD with NeuroAffective Touch creator, Aline LaPierre, PhD and The Practical Guide for Healing Developmental Trauma was written by North American Complex Trauma Training Center Director, Brad Kammer, LMFT. These books help define the patterns and survival strategies shaped by complex trauma and Complex PTSD to support awareness and agency. They’re also a good companion to the NARM work we may do in therapy.
The Transforming Trauma podcast hosted by Emily Ruth McIntosh, LMFT features conversations with trauma experts from various modalities, all viewed through a NARM lens. It’s a helpful way to explore different approaches to healing while grounding in a shared understanding of complex trauma.
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD and Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma (pdf) by Peter Levine, PhD offer a foundational look at how trauma lives in the body. While somatic responses are often more obvious with PTSD or “shock trauma,” they also significantly affect the experience and symptoms of complex trauma. NARM was developed by faculty and draws clinicians from Somatic Experiencing therapy model with its cognitive (top-down) and somatic (bottom-up) approaches integrated within a therapy session.
Other Therapy Models
Some clients ask about other well-known approaches, like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for PTSD or IFS (Internal Family Systems) for complex trauma. Personally and professionally with clients and colleagues who are more aligned with the therapy I provide, I’ve found these models can sometimes feel too structured or cognitively driven, and may limit organic and holistic exploration.
Medication and Psychedelic Integration
Research on the use of ketamine and other psychedelics for trauma treatment is growing. While I do not administer medication or psychedelics, I’ve supported clients in integrating these experiences into therapy. I also consult with colleagues academically trained in this area, as needed, to ensure the support I offer is informed and responsible.
Peak Experiences
Following my mention of psychedelics, I’ve seen how external catalysts in the form of intentional community time, creative endeavors, or purposeful travel outside of one's comfort zone can be mind opening and somatically expanding. These moments of aliveness may subdue the effects of trauma while creating new territory that allows for growth post-trauma. Realistic opportunities or options for peak experiences can be explored in a session together.
You can read more about my approach to trauma therapy and NARM in the More Information section of my site.
Resources with a Collective Lens
These resources center the broader social, cultural, and intergenerational contexts of trauma.
Like many therapists who work with complex trauma, I am aligned with the work of Gabor Maté, MD. I learned about his trauma therapy model called Compassionate Inquiry, in 2022 during my NARM training. I found it then to be less developed in terms of clinical training and application with Gabor endorsing NARM as a modality for trauma healing at the time. With my limited knowledge of his model, I tend to more often recommend his books and recorded talks, which are widely available and offer a systems-level yet personal understanding of trauma, addiction and other maladaptive coping, and societal disconnection.
In 2025, I noticed how Gabor is more visible in connecting with work that focuses on indigenous wisdom and psychology such as those of Darcia Narvaez, PhD and Wahinkpe Topa authors of perhaps my favorite book and number one recommendation on collective healing, Restoring the Kinship Worldview. He has also been active in communities like SAND (Science and Nonduality), which are communities re-evolving to incorporate ancestral and indigenous knowledge to support mental healthcare.
For those curious about their own ancestral lineage and cultural roots, whether they identify as white or BIPOC (black, indigenous, or a person of color), I recommend the workbook Ethnoautobiography, Stories and Practices for Unlearning whiteness, Decolonization, Uncovering Ethnicities by Jürgen W. Kremer and River Jackson-Paton or this free article by Jürgen introducing this work. While it may seem divisive at first glance, it provides some structure on how each person is uniquely indigenous to planet earth and provides exposure to the shared responsibility for a more sustainable and authentic relationship with the world around us.
Lastly, I often recommend Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World by Vivek Murthy, MD former U.S. Surgeon General. Though it doesn’t explicitly focus on collective trauma, it speaks directly to how loneliness, disconnection, and the fragmentation of modern life contribute to rising rates of mental and physical ailments. His work offers a broad, public lens on something many clients already feel, but may not openly talk about which is that the environments and societies we live in itself are not well.