What is Complex Trauma And How To Treat It
One of the standout quotes for me from the Anxiety Support Summit came from Dr. Reshie Joseph when he said, "Not all who struggle with anxiety suffer from complex trauma, but all who suffer from complex trauma will struggle with anxiety."
Unfortunately, by not understanding or diagnosing trauma, it appears we are missing a vital piece of the puzzle that could help many traumatized individuals heal.
A harsh reality is that millions struggle immensely with anxiety and spend years desperately searching for a cure with little to no success. If this is you and you wonder why you never get better, herein may lie the answer: You may be dealing with complex psychological trauma — a condition massively misunderstood, which — unfortunately — goes largely undiagnosed with catastrophic consequences. Because of this, most are oblivious to how they might treat it and all the available options to them.
Here's where anxiety gets real tricky
Most of the support, blogs, treatments, therapists, coaches, etc., operate on the surface level. They are not trauma aware, and therefore, unlikely to help you. This is especially true for those with undiagnosed complex trauma (c-PTSD) or PTSD.
Access immediately here.
So what is trauma?
In layman's terms, it is a wound. Something that happened to you in the past that prevents you from living free in the future. Therefore, anxiety is a trauma response. But it doesn't necessarily have to be complex. As noted by Dr. Reshie, many struggle immensely with anxiety and panic without complex trauma. Thus, they can heal quite quickly once a good support system is in place — emphasis on a support system.
According to the National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma, “complex trauma describes exposure to multiple traumas. It also refers to the impacts of that exposure.”
Furthermore, “complex trauma is usually interpersonal i.e. occurs between people. It involves ‘being or feeling’ trapped. It is often planned, extreme, ongoing and/or repeated. It often has more severe, persistent, and cumulative impacts, involves challenges with shame, trust, self-esteem, identity and regulating emotions. It has different coping strategies, including alcohol and drug use, self-harm, over-or under-eating, over-work, etc, and it affects emotional and physical health, wellbeing, relationships, and daily functioning.” It’s a different animal.
Unfortunately, in today's trigger-happy world, trauma — similar to anxiety — has become somewhat of a buzzword, romanticized by Charleton's who use it as a means to elevate their business or brand. And while it is essential to open up a dialogue, I can't help but feel the net result is more despair for many as they're set up to fall into the trap of "learned helplessness" because their "woke-spiritual-guru" keeps telling them to go hug a tree. Or whatever?
The complexity of this subject is insane
Firstly, please don't think for a second that I am trying to depict myself as an expert on complex trauma here because I am not. The purpose of this post is to provide you with renewed hope if this is something you think you might be struggling with, so you can change tack and hopefully get the help you need from those who know how to help you.
If you've read the work of any of the world's leading experts on trauma, you will be familiar with the phrase, "the body keeps the score." Essentially, trauma is stored in the body, and it needs to be completed. As we know, life brings with it significant stress — stress we are never taught how to manage. We learn fight, flight, freeze, but we never learn to thaw — we never learn how to complete the stress or trauma cycle.
Animals do this all the time. Below is a fascinating video of a Polar Bear completing the trauma cycle. As a result, they prevent themselves from becoming traumatized.
Unfortunately, society — the way it is set up — is not trauma aware, not conducive to healing, and, often, as a result, forces trauma upon an individual.
An extreme version would be veterans going to war, witnessing terror, and likely being told to stiffen up, brush it off, and go fire another round. Then, when they get home — because the trauma cycle has never been complete — they get PTSD.
Many more experience trauma in life, and due to guilt and shame and whatnot, they try their best to conceal it because they fear judgment, thus increasing the likelihood of it manifesting into a serious shit show down the road.
So what is one to do?
I don't believe talk therapy is enough. There has to be an integrative mind-body approach for pretty much all healing. But when it comes to complex trauma, from what I understand, you haven't a hope in hell of getting better if you're not learning to come home and feel safe in your own body and world.
There are many trauma-specific therapies. Here are a few that spring to mind you might want to consider:
1. Breathwork
I recently completed a 400-hour clinical breathwork practitioner training with Edward Dangerfield because it's the most powerful healing modality I've come across. I also believe combining breathwork and coaching is a potent combination to offer anyone struggling with anxiety.
Breathwork is NOT meditation. Essentially, you drop into an altered state of consciousness and, in time, complete trauma cycles that have been stored in the body for years. It's a reconfiguring of sorts — by correcting maladaptive breathing patterns, you heal.
Edward Dangerfield explains all this far more eloquently than I ever could if you want to grab the interview series from the ASS here.
2. EMDR
Leading trauma expert, Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, is a huge advocate of EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It's a relatively new form of psychotherapy proven far more effective than traditional psychotherapy for healing trauma.
According to the Center for Discovery, "EMDR works because the "bilateral stimulation" by-passes the area of the brain that has become stuck due to the trauma and is preventing the left side of the brain from self-soothing the right side of the brain."
Bit of a mouthful, I know. But if it helps you, who cares, right?
3. Psychedelics
Psychedelics are gathering serious pace due to their efficacy in treating anxiety and depression. It might be for you. It might not. The option to explore and research is always there.
Caution, of course, must be exercised. Still, if done properly under the supervision of a professional with integrity, who knows how to hold space and keep you safe, psychedelics have the potential to radically transform your life. And while "radical" is my least favourite word on the planet due to it being overused by every clickbait shit-talking blogger on the internet, it seems very fitting in this context.
Dr. Gabor Maté is a massive advocate of psychedelics for trauma healing. In his movie, The Wisdom of Trauma, you can see what holding a safe space and operating with integrity looks like as he takes a cancer patient through a psychedelic journey. The rawness is incredible to witness.
4. Somatic Experiencing
I don't know much about somatic experiencing except that it was created by another one of the world's leading trauma experts, Dr. Peter Levine, and concerns itself with helping traumatized individuals come home and feel safe in their bodies. Which, I guess, is the whole point? So I'll say no more.
With all the above, you'll need to do your research. As mentioned, the purpose of this post is to inspire hope and maybe open your eyes to other options for you to explore if traditional therapies haven't served you. I hope it helps.
Over & out.