We work with people presenting with PTSD as well as difficulties associated with Complex Trauma.
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a serious accident, a sexual assault, a natural disaster, war/combat, a terrorist attack or who have been threatened with death, serious injury or sexual violence. PTSD can also occur in people learning about the traumatic death of someone close to them as well as people who are exposed repeatedly to traumatic stories and images such as policemen, certain healthcare workers and journalists.
People with PTSD experience intrusions in the form of flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, they may feel intense hyperarousal including anxiety and anger but may also feel very detached from themselves and the world around them. People with PTSD often avoid situations that remind them of their trauma and may also start to avoid people.
Whereas PTSD usually develops from a single event, complex trauma refers to prolonged repeated trauma/neglect often in childhood and adolescence. Abuse includes physical, sexual and verbal harm. Neglect is often a little harder for people to recognise but can be just as damaging. If you felt unwanted, unseen, unliked, rejected, hated or despised for a lengthy period of your childhood then you probably experienced emotional neglect.
People who have experienced complex trauma can sadly struggle in many different ways but the most common tend to be emotional flashbacks, shame, feelings of loneliness and abandonment, fragile self esteem, vacillations in mood, a harsh inner critic, anxiety in relationships, oversensitivity to stressful situations and at times suicidal ideation. It is common for people who have had complex trauma to be diagnosed with anxiety, depression or personality disorder and whilst it is common for people with complex trauma to struggle with difficulties in keeping with various traits of these diagnoses, it can sometimes lead to an incomplete understanding of the problem.
We work with people who have PTSD as well as those who have had complex trauma. We offer evidenced based treatment for PTSD including Trauma Informed CBT, Prolonged Exposure and EMDR. For our clients who have experienced complex trauma we typically offer Schema Therapy and Internal Family Systems.
