How long is therapy for complex trauma?

If we're only working on a single event that occurred when you were an adult, then it could be quite short, possibly between 1 and 3 months. Childhood trauma research recommends 15 to 30 months, but I have had clients who were satisfied with what they achieved sooner, sometimes much sooner. But this in no way means that treatment and recovery are not possible. Long-term therapy is highly effective in the right setting with a productive therapeutic alliance between client and doctor.

And that relationship can absolutely develop with time, care and trust. Complex trauma is a clinical formulation and the term used by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and all competent and knowledgeable therapists and researchers. C-PTSD is most commonly seen in people who experienced trauma early in life and is especially complex when someone was injured by a caregiver or is still in contact with the abuser. Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is a response to prolonged and repeated trauma that lasts for months or years.

Complex PTSD treatment centers offer immersive opportunities for therapy and positive life skills in a welcoming and safe environment. They are similar, but complex trauma (C-PTSD) results from repeated, chronic and prolonged exposure to trauma, usually starting in childhood. The best treatment route for complex PTSD encompasses the whole person and their entire life, past, present and future. Once the different parts have been identified, the therapist can help the person determine the main underlying threatening patterns that reside in their psyche.

If you have complex post-traumatic stress disorder, you may be offered therapies to treat PTSD, such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). However, while each person's fight against post-traumatic stress disorder or complex PTSD is unique, recovery is possible for each and every person. Complex PTSD, also known as C-PTSD, can result from chronic trauma that usually occurs during childhood and adolescence. If the illness is serious and prolonged and requires frequent and painful medical interventions at an early age, then yes, that can cause complex trauma, since the child may experience that the parent repeatedly takes him to those procedures because he is considered “abusive”.

Challenging underlying maladaptive beliefs helps a person who experienced complex trauma begin to assess the harm caused during their childhood. A good therapist can help a person suffering from complex trauma identify their schemas, modes, triggers and people, and can help the person learn to integrate these parts into a cohesive whole. Assuming that you are receiving evidence-based and empirically validated treatment for complex trauma, such as dyadic developmental psychotherapy, you can expect symptoms to begin to improve in about ninety days. One of the most useful first steps in treating complex trauma is to identify the various modes within a person's psyche.

In general, traumatic disorders can be difficult to treat because a person must work with a therapist to discover the sources of trauma and their ability to trust those vulnerabilities and address them is severely compromised.

Ruth Bupp
Ruth Bupp

Total music maven. Infuriatingly humble pop culture advocate. Proud coffee enthusiast. Infuriatingly humble food scholar. Freelance twitter guru. Evil beer junkie.

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