What Is Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)? Signs, Symptoms & How Healing Happens

Giselle Monbiot
Giselle Monbiot
• 2 min read

C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) develops when someone has lived through long-term, repeated stress or emotional wounding. This might come from childhood neglect, emotional unavailability, inconsistent parenting, high criticism, coercive control, or years of being in situations where your needs were dismissed or met with unpredictability.

Unlike PTSD, which is linked to a single traumatic event, C-PTSD forms slowly. It shapes the nervous system, the body, and a person's sense of self.

What Is Complex PTSD (C-PTSD)? Signs, Symptoms & How Healing Happens

Common Signs of C-PTSD

You may recognise yourself in some of these patterns:

  • Feeling constantly on edge, overwhelmed or "on alert"
  • A harsh inner critic and persistent self-doubt
  • People-pleasing, over-functioning, or caretaking others' emotions
  • Emotional numbness or difficulty feeling joy
  • Deep shame, guilt, or feeling "not enough"
  • Chronic anxiety, exhaustion, or burnout
  • Struggling to trust, set boundaries, or express needs
  • Feeling disconnected from your body
  • Repeated relationship patterns that feel draining or painful

Many people live with these symptoms for decades without realising they are trauma responses – not personal failings.

Why C-PTSD Is Often Missed by Therapists

  • Many practitioners aren't trained to identify complex trauma
  • Symptoms are often mislabelled as anxiety, depression, ADHD, or personality issues
  • Clients are treated for the surface symptoms, not the underlying trauma
  • The body-based signs are ignored in talk-therapy models

Those living with C-PTSD often feel unheard, misunderstood, or as though nothing quite gets to the root of what they are experiencing.

Healing C-PTSD: A Whole-Person Approach

C-PTSD isn't a life sentence. With the right support, the nervous system softens, the body stops bracing, and a person reconnects with who they truly are.

Healing often requires an approach that includes:

  • Inner work – understanding old patterns and childhood conditioning
  • The body – somatic practices that help release stored tension and emotion
  • The breath – learning to regulate the nervous system and reduce long-held stress

This whole-person approach helps you move from survival mode into a life with more choice, presence, ease and vibrancy.

If you recognise yourself in this, you don't have to navigate it alone. I support women who are ready to understand their patterns, reconnect to their bodies, and begin healing the deeper layers that have kept them stuck.

You're welcome to explore my 1:1 sessions, breathwork, or courses and events, and start creating the space you need to feel grounded, open and truly yourself again.

To learn more about Complex Trauma and how I work with it, visit my Complex Trauma (C-PTSD) page.

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