Complex Trauma: How You Can Cope & Learn to Support Your Own Recovery

If you experienced complex trauma, you lived through something terrible and prolonged. Unlike a sudden disaster or single, cruel violation, your disturbing experience occurred repeatedly. It may have even escalated over time. You may have not been able to foresee the neglect, abuse, or violence ever ending. And when it did, you may have wondered how to move forward.

To find relief from complex trauma, you will need the help and support of a qualified therapist. There is no shame in seeking help or needing support. You deserve to feel safe and receive comfort.

Thankfully too, there are also steps you can take to aid your recovery process and forward before, during, and after therapy. Consider the following strategies and skills:

Key Ways to Cope with Complex Trauma

Honor the Connection Between Your Mind and Body

Trauma is stored in your body. Taking a body-centered approach to finding relief can help you feel more self-controlled and secure. Spend time caring for your body and paying attention to your bodily responses to memories, thoughts, and trauma triggers.

Give yourself permission to notice your reactions. Prepare to cope with them with breathing techniques, relaxation exercises, and self-care. These methods empower you to acknowledge and address the internal tension productively.

Get Present and Stay Present

Do you sometimes find yourself lost in the pain, sadness, or helplessness of your past? For complex trauma survivors, flashbacks can be frequent, vivid, and a source of deep anxiety. Worries about safety and preparedness can be crippling. 

To cope, you may tend to become controlling, needy, or simply overwhelmed. For the sake of your mental health and relationships, find ways to keep yourself grounded in the present moment. Cultivating mindfulness is often key to calm and effective regulation of your emotions.

Practice letting your thoughts come and go freely. Concentrate on your breathing. Uses your senses to focus only on your current environment. As you learn to recognize and compassionately accept your own feelings, responses, and sensations, you'll enjoy an increased sense of awareness, wellbeing, and relief.

Notice and Challenge Abusive, Critical Self-talk

 Have you lived with shame, the belief that you are unwanted or unlovable? Do you tell yourself that you're never going to be much? D you think that you're to blame for the past, or that no one cares about you or could? Perhaps you've convinced yourself that you have to compromise your needs and boundaries to have love or gain acceptance.

Complex trauma goes deep. It pokes holes in your self-image. You may automatically embrace feelings of worthlessness as truth.

To recover from the lies your trauma tells you, it's important to identify and challenge unhelpful beliefs about yourself. Though they’re tough to face, you get to be the first person to push back against negativity and judgment. 

Self-affirming self-talk is powerful. Take small steps daily to pay attention to the ways you judge yourself. Consciously reject anything that tears you down.

Reaching Out Fosters Relief

This will likely be difficult. Be patient with yourself. Complex trauma, not surprisingly, leaves many sufferers feeling isolated and lonely. Your experience might have left you feeling that your pain, reactions, or the nature of the experience was unique You might believe that no one else suffers the same way. You may feel abandoned or ashamed.

This is exactly why connecting with others is crucial to the treatment process. Learning to seek out safe, trustworthy people will expand your perspective and dismantle some of the power of the past. Sharing in a support group, with a nonjudgemental loved one, or a reliable member of your faith community may be a good first attempt at finding comfort and support.

Why Therapy Matters

Complex trauma is, as the name implies, difficult to sort out on your own. But, with help, recovery is possible. The life you want can be yours. Reaching that future just requires qualified care and support.
Sessions with a professional, in addition to the self-supportive strategies mentioned above, can foster long-term healing.

Your therapist's job is to help you find a new path where freedom, confidence, and balance are part of the journey. Let us help you learn to trust yourself and your right to a happier life. Read here about trauma therapy and contact us soon for a new start.