What is Complex PTSD?
Complex PTSD (C-PTSD, recognised in ICD-11) does not arise from a single event, but from repeated or prolonged traumatisation — often in situations from which there was no escape. Typical causes include:
- Abuse, neglect or emotional mistreatment in childhood
- Domestic violence
- Sexual assault over an extended period
- Experiences of war or flight
- Growing up with caregivers who had mental illness or addiction
What is particular about C-PTSD is that the trauma did not break into a stable life from outside — it was often the thing that shaped life from the beginning.
How Does C-PTSD Differ from PTSD?
Classic PTSD primarily manifests through flashbacks, nightmares and avoidance behaviour following a clearly defined event. Complex PTSD additionally includes:
- Emotional dysregulation: Intense, difficult-to-control outbursts of feeling, or emotional numbness
- Negative self-image: Deeply rooted shame, guilt, the sense of being fundamentally wrong or damaged
- Relationship difficulties: Problems with closeness, trust, boundaries — often shaped by attachment trauma
- Dissociation: Periods of not being with oneself, feelings of unreality or inner emptiness
- Physical symptoms: Chronic pain, exhaustion, psychosomatic complaints
Somatic Experiencing with Complex PTSD
Many people with C-PTSD have had poor experiences with therapies that move too fast and go too deep too soon. Somatic Experiencing® is different: the method is gentle and resource-oriented. Rather than diving into difficult memories, SE works step by step with what the body is showing in the present.
The first priority is building safety and stability in the nervous system — a foundation that in C-PTSD is often missing or was never established. Only once this base exists is the difficult material approached in small steps. You set the pace.
Typical changes over the course of SE therapy with C-PTSD:
- The nervous system learns to regulate out of overwhelm
- Physical symptoms ease
- A more stable sense of self emerges
- Relationships become more accessible
First Steps
If you recognise yourself in these descriptions, please feel free to get in touch. The first phone call is free and without obligation. Together we can look at whether and how working together might make sense.
