PTSD & Complex Trauma

Trauma Changes the Brain—But Healing is Possible

Trauma isn’t just something bad that happened. 

It’s what happens inside of you as a result of overwhelming stress that your brain and body weren’t able to fully process at the time. It’s not about how “big” or “small” an event was—it’s about how your nervous system responded to it.

When we experience trauma, the brain shifts into survival mode, activating the amygdala (fear center) while suppressing the prefrontal cortex (logical thinking and emotional regulation). 

This is why trauma isn’t just a memory—it’s a whole-body response that can make you feel stuck in the past, on edge in the present, or disconnected from yourself entirely (van der Kolk, 2014).

Some trauma is single-event trauma—a car accident, an assault, a natural disaster. 

Other trauma is complex or prolonged, shaped by repeated experiences of harm, neglect, or instability. 

Either way, the effects can be lasting—but they don’t have to define you forever.

💡 Your trauma is real. 

Your healing is possible. 

Let’s work on finding safety again.

What We Support

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): When the Past Won’t Let Go

PTSD develops when the brain struggles to process and integrate a traumatic event, leaving it stuck in a heightened state of fear and reactivity (Shin et al., 2006). 

Even when you know, logically, that you’re safe, your nervous system responds as if the danger is still present.

🔹 Signs of PTSD:

• Flashbacks or intrusive memories that make the past feel like it’s happening now
• Avoiding certain places, people, or situations to prevent triggering memories
• Feeling constantly on edge—hyperaware of your surroundings, easily startled
• Emotional numbness—disconnecting from yourself or others
• Trouble sleeping, nightmares, or waking up in a panic

💡 Your trauma response isn’t overreacting—it’s your brain doing what it was wired to do. 

Let’s help it find a new way forward.

Complex Trauma (C-PTSD): When Trauma is Repeated, Layered, and Deep

Not all trauma comes from a single event. 

Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) happens when trauma is repeated over time—often in childhood, abusive relationships, or unsafe environments—leading to a deep sense of fear, shame, and emotional dysregulation (Herman, 1997). Unlike PTSD, which is often tied to a specific incident, C-PTSD affects a person’s entire sense of self.

🔹 Signs of Complex Trauma:

• Struggling with trust, even in safe relationships
• A harsh inner critic—feeling unworthy, broken, or fundamentally “not enough”
• Emotional flashbacks—sudden waves of fear, shame, or panic with no clear trigger
• Dissociation—feeling detached from reality, zoning out, or struggling with memory gaps
• A tendency to overwork, people-please, or self-isolate as a way to cope

💡 You didn’t choose what happened to you, but healing is within your control. 

Let’s work on finding safety in yourself.

The Hidden Effects of Trauma: When It Shows Up in Unexpected Ways

Trauma doesn’t always look like panic attacks or flashbacks. Sometimes, it shows up in ways that seem unrelated but stem from the same nervous system dysregulation (Porges, 2011).

🔹 Trauma’s Hidden Signs:

• Chronic exhaustion—your body staying stuck in survival mode
• Struggling with boundaries—either pushing people away or letting them in too quickly
• Perfectionism & overworking—because slowing down feels unsafe
• Dissociation or depersonalization–feeling emotionally numb or like you’re watching your life happen from the outside
• Self-sabotage—pushing away good things because you don’t trust them to last

💡 If you’ve been stuck in the same patterns for years, there’s a reason. 

Let’s figure it out together.

Why Trauma Recovery Matters

You don’t have to erase the past to build a future. 

Healing from trauma isn’t about “getting over it”—it’s about learning how to live in the present without being controlled by the past. 

Your nervous system can be rewired, your sense of self can be rebuilt, and your life can feel safe again.

With the right support, you can:

✅ Learn nervous system regulation tools that actually work for trauma responses

✅ Feel safer in your own body and relationships

✅ Reduce hypervigilance and anxiety so you’re not always on edge

✅ Process traumatic memories without feeling retraumatized

✅ Break free from cycles of shame, fear, and emotional numbness

💡 Your past doesn’t define your future. 

Let’s work on what comes next.

How We Can Help

🧠 Nervous System Healing & Somatic Therapy

• Techniques to calm an overactive fight-or-flight response
• Grounding exercises for flashbacks, dissociation, and panic
• Learning how to feel safe in your body again

💬 Trauma-Informed Therapy Approaches

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) & Parts Work for deep emotional wounds
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Trauma to reshape thought patterns
• Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT) for Somatic Experiencing and calming the central nervous system

🛠 Practical Skills for Everyday Life

• Building healthy relationships & boundaries after trauma
• Reducing self-sabotaging behaviors and emotional shutdowns
• Learning how to trust yourself again

💡 Trauma changes the brain—but so does healing. 

Let’s take the first step together.

References

Herman, J. L. (1997). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—from domestic abuse to political terror. Basic Books.

Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory: Neurophysiological foundations of emotions, attachment, communication, and self-regulation. W. W. Norton & Company.

Shin, L. M., Rauch, S. L., & Pitman, R. K. (2006). Amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and hippocampal function in PTSD. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1071(1), 67-79.

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.