Online Trauma Therapy Across Pennsylvania and Delaware
Complex Trauma/ CPTSD Therapy
Helping you create a life guided by you, not your past.
Does it feel like your emotions control you?
Do you feel like you're back there all over again?
It happens out of nowhere. One moment you're here, and the next you're somewhere else entirely.
It's more than the memory of what happened. You're there again. The room. The sounds. The smells. That voice.
It doesn't matter that it was years ago. When it comes back, it feels like it's happening again. You can't tell the difference between then and now.
Suddenly you're a kid again. Small, scared, and trying to stay safe.
The past shows up without warning. When it does, everything else disappears.
You feel like you're dying on the inside and just trying to survive. It’s exhausting.
Do you feel like something's wrong with you?
Deep down, you believe something is wrong with you. Not just that you made mistakes or had bad things happen to you. You feel broken at your core.
You tell yourself it was your fault. That you deserved what happened. That if you were different, better, stronger, it wouldn't have happened.
Even when you know logically it wasn't your fault, you can't shake the feeling that it was. That you're to blame. That you're not okay as a person.
You look at other people and wonder how they seem so normal. How they move through the world without carrying this weight. You feel like you're pretending to be like them, but you're not.
You've lost yourself somewhere along the way. You can't find what you like to do. You can't describe who you are. You don't recognize the person looking back at you in the mirror.
It's hard to believe you're worthy of good things. That you deserve to heal. That you're not broken beyond repair.
Does the world feel unreal, or does your body not feel like yours?
Sometimes you don't feel real. You go through the motions like a robot. Separate from everything.
The world around you feels far away. It's like you're in a movie, watching your life from a distance. Like you're a third person looking at yourself.
You zone out without meaning to. Time passes and you don't remember it. There are gaps. Moments you can't account for.
Your body feels heavy. Your legs don't feel like yours.
After something stressful or upsetting, you feel completely numb. Your face, your head. Everything feels foggy and heavy. You don't want to face anything.
Your whole life doesn't feel like yours. Like it wasn't really you back then. Like it was all a bad dream you can't wake up from.
Leaving the house feels impossible. Talking to anyone feels like too much.
It's hard to trust anyone. When people try to get close, you push them away.
Part of you wants connection, but closeness feels unsafe. You're afraid of being too much or not enough. You're afraid they'll see the real you and leave.
So you shut people out. Then you feel lonely.
Maybe you have one person who understands you. But even then, you don't know how to let them in.
You put everyone else's needs before your own. You withdraw. You test them to see if they'll stay. You wait for the other shoe to drop.
Closeness and safety in relationships are unfamiliar territory.
Do you struggle to let people get close to you?
You’ve been living like this for so long, it’s hard to imagine feeling different.
Change is possible.
Therapy for Complex Trauma/ CPTSD
I specialize in treating complex trauma using EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, and mindfulness. These approaches help you heal the deep wounds that affect how you see yourself, how you connect with others, and how you manage emotions.
Types of Therapy
EMDR Therapy
Uses gentle side to side movements (called bilateral stimulation) to help the brain file away painful memories so they feel less intense and less present in daily life.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Helps you understand and work with different parts of yourself that developed to protect you during trauma, so you can heal from the inside out.
Somatic Experiencing
Helps you tune into physical sensations and body cues that may be holding onto trauma, so your body can begin to relax and reset.
Mindfulness
Teaches you how to pay attention to the present moment with more curiosity and less judgment, which can calm your body and quiet your thoughts.
How It Works
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We Connect
First, schedule a free consultation by clicking “Book Now” to see if it feels like a good fit. In our early sessions, I’ll get to know you as a person: your story, strengths, struggles, and what truly matters to you.
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We Develop a Plan
We’ll talk about what you want from therapy and come up with a clear plan for how to get there, together.
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We Work Together
We’ll check in regularly to see what’s helping and adjust along the way to keep you moving toward the life you want.
Complex Trauma/CPTSD FAQs
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Complex trauma happens when you experience repeated or prolonged harmful situations, usually over months or years. This could be ongoing childhood abuse, neglect, or living in a violent home. Complex trauma often happens in situations where you couldn't escape or felt trapped.
Complex PTSD develops from experiencing complex trauma. It goes beyond just remembering what happened. It affects how you see yourself, how you relate to others, and how you manage your emotions. It shapes your sense of safety and who you are.
CPTSD is recognized in the ICD-11 (the international system for diagnosing conditions) but isn't yet in the DSM-5 (the U.S. system). Even so, mental health professionals widely understand and treat it.
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The difference between complex PTSD and PTSD comes down to how long the trauma lasted and how it affects you. Both include flashbacks, nightmares, and feeling on edge. But CPTSD also includes ongoing struggles with how you see yourself, how you connect with others, and managing your emotions.
With PTSD, the trauma usually comes from a single event or a few specific incidents. With CPTSD, the trauma happened repeatedly over time, often during childhood or in relationships where you couldn't leave.
CPTSD often includes feeling broken or worthless, difficulty trusting people, intense emotions that swing from overwhelming to numb, and feeling disconnected from yourself or the world. These struggles run deeper because they developed over a long period.
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Signs of complex trauma in adults often show up in a few main areas. Complex PTSD symptoms and CPTSD symptoms include:
Re-experiencing: Flashbacks, intrusive memories, or feeling like the past is happening again right now.
Negative self-view: Feeling broken, worthless, or like what happened was your fault, even when you know it wasn't.
Relationship struggles: Difficulty trusting people, pushing others away, feeling lonely, or ending up in painful patterns.
Emotional swings: Intense emotions like rage or terror that feel impossible to control, or feeling completely numb and shut down.
Feeling disconnected: Zoning out, losing time, feeling like the world isn't real, or like you're watching your life from a distance.
You might also struggle with sleep, have a hard time feeling safe, or feel like you've been living this way for as long as you can remember.
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Yes. You can have CPTSD and still function well at work or school. You can show up, meet deadlines, and appear fine on the outside while struggling deeply on the inside. Complex trauma in professionals often goes unnoticed because people with CPTSD learn to mask their symptoms.
You might excel at work, maintain relationships, and seem like you have it all together. But privately, you're exhausted. You might struggle with trust, feel disconnected, have intense emotions you hide, or feel like you're just going through the motions.
Functioning well doesn't mean you're not struggling. It means you've learned to survive and push through. But that doesn't make the pain any less real, and it doesn't mean you don't deserve support.
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PTSD often overlaps with anxiety, depression, substance use problems, and many other mental health struggles. In some cases, trauma makes existing struggles feel more intense or harder to manage. In other cases, PTSD is the root issue. That’s why treating the trauma itself can often bring relief across multiple areas of mental health.