Trauma and PTSD | Therapy Practice

Trauma & C-PTSD

Trauma isn’t only about what happened in your past, it’s about what stayed in your body afterwards.

It can shape how safe you feel, how you relate to others, and how you respond to your environment long after the event has passed. For some people, the impact is tied to one overwhelming moment. For others, it comes from years of repeated stress, emotional neglect, or instability. This is what we call complex trauma (C-PTSD).

You don’t need to be “sure” whether you have trauma or C-PTSD before reaching out. This page is here to help you understand what these experiences often look and feel like.

Why Trauma happens

There is no single cause of trauma.
Trauma develops when an experience overwhelms the nervous system’s ability to cope.

This can include:

Big “T” trauma (accidents, violence, assault, sudden loss)
Small “t” trauma (chronic stress, emotional neglect, unpredictable caregiving, ongoing criticism, instability at home)
Relational trauma (invalidation, lack of safety in relationships, inconsistent or intrusive parenting)
Medical trauma, birth trauma, immigration trauma, or cultural trauma
Vicarious trauma from witnessing someone else’s suffering
Repeated exposure to distressing events (especially in high-stress roles such as emergency workers and first responders).

Modern neuroscience shows that trauma is not just a memory; it’s a physiological imprint stored in the body.
Your brain and nervous system adapt in order to protect you. They stay on alert, shut down, or disconnect parts of your experience to help you survive.

This is why trauma symptoms feel so physical and automatic.
They come from the body’s attempt to stay safe, not from personal weakness.

You don’t need to know the “exact cause” before coming to therapy.
Part of our work is gently uncovering which pieces of your history are still living in your body, so healing becomes possible.

How Trauma affects the body & mind

When the past won’t stay in the past, it shows up in your body, your reactions, and your relationships.

Sometimes you go through life believing you’ve “moved on.” You’ve survived. You’ve kept going. You may even be the strong one, the responsible one, the one who holds everything together.

But then something small like a tone of voice, a conflict, a memory, a sound hits you harder than it should. You react in ways you don’t recognise. You feel overwhelmed, easily triggered, or emotionally flooded without knowing why.
It can feel confusing, shameful, or like you’re losing control.

This is what trauma does.
It leaves marks in the nervous system, not just in memory. It reshapes how you sense safety, how you relate to others, how you protect yourself, and how you move through the world. And those marks don’t disappear simply because time has passed.

You don’t have to face this alone. Trauma can be worked through gently, safely, and at your pace, and your system can learn to feel grounded again.

Many people recognise themselves in patterns such as:

Emotion regulation difficulties – intense emotions that feel hard to control, or feeling “too much” very quickly.
A constant sense of unsafety – being on edge, scanning for danger, feeling easily overwhelmed or startled.
Shutdown or numbness – feeling disconnected from yourself, your body, or your emotions when things feel too much.
People-pleasing, fawning, perfectionism, or avoiding conflict – ways your nervous system learned to maintain safety.
Chronic guilt, shame, or self-blame – even when you logically know it wasn’t your fault.
Intrusive memories, flashbacks, or emotional flashbacks – reliving the feeling of a past experience without always having a clear memory attached.
Strong reactions to seemingly small triggers – sounds, smells, tones of voice, facial expressions, or situations.
Difficulties with boundaries or trusting others – either getting too close too quickly or keeping people at a distance.
Physical symptoms – headaches, gut issues, sleep disturbances, fatigue, muscle tension, or chronic hypervigilance.
Relationship patterns that repeat – choosing familiar dynamics, even when they’re painful or unhelpful.
Difficulty feeling calm, relaxed, or “present” – your body stays in survival mode even when you want to rest.

None of this is “overreacting.” It’s your nervous system doing what it learned keeps you safe in the past.

CPTSD (Complex Trauma)

CPTSD develops when overwhelming experiences happen repeatedly over time. Especially when you couldn’t escape, weren’t supported, or had to adapt to survive.

It often influences:

your sense of self
your ability to trust
how you interpret relationships
how safe (or unsafe) your body feels

This can lead to chronic shame, emotional intensity, inner criticism, difficulty setting boundaries, or feeling stuck in patterns you can’t “think” your way out of. These patterns were once survival strategies.

In therapy, we help your system learn new ones.

Common features of C-PTSD include:

emotional flashbacks (feeling suddenly young, small, ashamed, or terrified)
difficulty trusting or connecting with others
intense self-criticism
chronic feelings of emptiness or abandonment
patterns of shutting down or dissociating
relationship cycles that feel confusing or painful

Types of Trauma

There are many pathways into trauma, including:

Acute trauma (single incident)
Chronic trauma (ongoing stress or fear)
Relational trauma (wounds from caregiving, attachment, or relationships)
Complex trauma (long-term, repeated, often occurring in childhood)
Developmental trauma (trauma occurring while the brain is still forming)
Emotional trauma (neglect, invalidation, manipulation, humiliation)
Interpersonal trauma (abuse, betrayal, boundary violations)
Identity-based trauma (racism, discrimination, cultural displacement)

You don’t need to fit neatly into one category.
These descriptions simply help you understand patterns your mind and body may still be carrying.

A gentle next step

As you begin to heal, life opens up again.
Relationships feel easier, the world feels less threatening, and your future starts to look like something you can actually step into. With the right therapeutic support, you can find steadiness again, understand your triggers, and move through life without feeling hijacked by old experiences.

Work with me