What Are Effective Steps for Addressing Complex Trauma in Therapy?

To better understand this concept, imagine a series of interconnected gears, each representing a different traumatic experience. 

When multiple traumas are present, these gears can lock together, creating a tightly bound structure that can be challenging to work with therapeutically. Finding the right “way in” to this complex trauma structure is crucial for helping clients heal. 

In the following video, Dr. Diane Poole Heller discusses an effective approach to working with complex trauma: addressing smaller, more approachable, “little t” traumas first. 

By focusing on these less intimidating experiences initially, therapists can help their clients’ nervous systems begin to regulate. This creates a sense of safety within the therapeutic relationship, and helps clients start to believe in their own capacity for healing.

As clients build resources and experience relief and safety, they create “space” within their trauma structure. This expansion of their nervous system’s window of tolerance allows for deeper work on the larger, more challenging issues or experiences at the core of their trauma. 

By addressing these smaller traumas first, clients become more equipped to handle and process the bigger, more overwhelming experiences.