complex ptsd (c-ptsd)

Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is a trauma response that develops from prolonged, repeated, or inescapable adversity—often beginning in childhood. Introduced by Judith Herman and formalized in the ICD-11, it captures harm that goes beyond classic PTSD to include deep wounds to identity and relationships.

It typically arises from ongoing abuse, neglect, captivity, or exposure to chronic fear within caregiving or power relationships. Alongside PTSD symptoms like intrusions, avoidance, and hyperarousal, C-PTSD includes disturbances in self-organization (DSO): affective dysregulation, negative self-concept, and difficulties in close relationships. Clinicians often work with C-PTSD through phase-based care focused on safety and stabilization, trauma processing, and reconnection, integrating attachment, somatic, and parts-based approaches.