#Complex trauma how to#

Yoga has shown similar results, showing that both can be an effective complement to talk therapy. A 2018 study involving veterans with PTSD found that a regular meditation practice can reduce symptoms of trauma. Repeat on the other side.Ī consistent mindfulness practice can help too. Inhale and exhale eight times through your left nostril. Alternate nostril breathing: Place your right thumb over your right nostril.Box breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds.4-7-8 breathing: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds.This is a direct way to let your body know that you’re safe. It’s a good idea to keep a few deep breathing exercises up your sleeve for those tough moments. But having a range of tools and self-care strategies can make the process a whole lot easier. Recovery from complex trauma can be a gradual process. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).Here are some additional resources for support: Look for a local 12-step program, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), or SMART Recovery. If you’d like to cut back on using drugs or drinking alcohol, support is available. There’s also a link between complex trauma and substance use as a way to cope with symptoms. In this treatment approach, you learn mindfulness, radical self-acceptance, and distress tolerance. This approach can be effective for people who live with borderline personality disorder (BPD), which has many overlapping symptoms with complex trauma. Since trauma lives in the limbic area of the brain and not the frontal cortex (the part of the brain that talks in therapy), somatic therapies or body-centered therapies can teach your body that it does not have to be prepared for trauma all the time.

#Complex trauma how to#

With this approach, you learn how to integrate the different parts of your personality into one whole “Self” to reprocess traumatic events in a way that can no longer harm you. With this treatment, you’re guided with gentle tapping (or tones) to reprocess traumatic events and form new beliefs around them.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Once you become aware of the connections, you may be able to change your actions. In this form of therapy, you explore the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Here are some effective therapies for complex trauma: The goal of each treatment option is to provide a corrective emotional experience for healing. The great news is, as more is uncovered about complex trauma, more trauma treatment therapies are emerging as well. What works for one person may not work for another.Īlso, keep in mind that what works at one point in time may not work later on down the line. Since the body is under chronic stress, it can lower your immune system and lead to a range of chronic health conditions.Įveryone’s story is unique - and so is their trauma. Somatic (bodily) symptoms, like unexplained headaches or an upset stomach, are also common with complex trauma.

avoiding people, places, or scenarios that upset you.low self-esteem or negative self-perception.struggling in interpersonal relationships.

This bodily state of your nervous system being on “high alert” can affect your thoughts, actions, and relationships. These lasting effects create symptoms of complex trauma. In his book, “ The Body Keeps the Score,” trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk, MD, describes how trauma literally becomes trapped in the body and the brain rewires itself. Over time, it becomes a “new normal” for the brain and body. It’s an experience of constantly being in survival mode, or on edge. It’s a coping mechanism to try and stay safe in the face of ongoing adversity. The limbic system stays engaged most of the time. Once the danger passes, your parasympathetic nervous system provides inner calm, otherwise known as your “rest and digest” mode.Īt this point, normal cognitive function returns, and you can go back to your day with relatively few side effects, perhaps only feeling a little jittery for a while, or a bit on edge.īut for people who live with complex trauma, this balance doesn’t quite return all the way. This “fire alarm” shuts down all nonessential systems (rest, digestion, sleep) and floods your body with stress hormones, like cortisol, so you can prepare for fight, flight, or freeze. When you experience a traumatic event, it activates the limbic system in the brain.