The Substitute

Let’s get real for a minute. I am an emotional abuse and neglect survivor in recovery. A couple years ago I was diagnosed with developmental trauma disorder, often also known as Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) in English speaking circles.

Trauma is probably the most widespread cause for mental health issues in the world. Renowned traumatologist John Briere once mused that if CPTSD ever was given its’ due, the DSM would shrink to the size of a thin pamphlet. Unfortunately, trauma still isn’t talked much about in society and has only just begun to be recognized as a common ailment in practical psychology.

This means that survivors with CPTSD are often misdiagnosed and - accordingly - improperly treated, leading to years of unnecessary stagnation or even regression in worst case scenarios. In Germany, for instance, trauma specific treatment isn’t yet recognized by social healthcare institutions. People who have to rely on social healthcare for their mental health inevitable end up in therapy forms that are only of limited helpfulness and can even be harmful to recovery. Giving the illusion that recovery is impossible and trapping survivors in the idea that they are somehow fundamentally broken and the best they can hope for is management of their symptoms for the rest of their life.

This isn’t the case, though. Recovery from trauma is a long, painful and non-linear process that takes years and – to some degree – never ends. But it is entirely possible. Finding the right resources in an environment that mostly ignores trauma is difficult without help, tho. Which is why I decided to put this together. I want to share a couple of resources that have helped me a lot over the past couple of years to hopefully help shedding some light on C-PTSD and what survivors can do to help themselves and find the right kind of therapeutic support and treatment. This is by no means an extensive list but it’s a good starting point.

List of resources on Complex PTSD

1. What is Complex PTSD?

Medical News Today: What to know about complex PTSD - a good, short overview of what CPTSD is, how it's different from PTSD and what the symptoms are/can be

2.  Active Online Support Communities

r/CPTSD – a friendly reddit community for childhood abuse survivors and their loved ones with lots of resources. It’s a safe space to vent, share your story, share your breakthroughs, setbacks, seek emotional support, ask questions, etc.

3. Books

Pete Walker, Complex PTSD: From Surviving To Thriving – probably one of the most extensive handbooks on CPTSD out there atm. I highly recommend you pick it up. Pete Walker is a California based psychologist and CPTSD survivor. This book combines  professional research based knowledge on CPTSD with his own and his client’s  insights and experiences. It also includes a couple of effective self-help strategies and advice on how to shop around for a ‘good enough’ therapist. If you don't have the resources to buy it, you can pick it up with a free Audible trial - you'll keep the book even if you terminate the Audible subsription. Pete also shares about a third of the information in it as articles for free on his website, if Audible isn't an option for you.

4. Resources to manage emotional flashbacks

Focusing - essentially a collection of mindfullness techniques and excercises originally developed by Eugene Gendlin. Dr. Kathy McGuire provides a series of free online classes and exercices on her youtube channel.

13 Steps Flashback Management - provided by Pete Walker

28 Popular & Effective Grounding Techniques - a collection of various grounding techniques

Please note that all of the resources provided here are _complimentary to _and not a replacement for therapy.