Healing from Complex PTSD

Your symptoms are not who you are. They’re responses to what you’ve been through.

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Finding Safety After Long-Term Trauma

Relational and complex trauma often come from emotional wounds that built up over time especially those formed in childhood. At Holistic Flow Therapy, I specialize in healing from complex PTSD by helping you gently process what happened, reconnect with your body, and shift the patterns that are still affecting your relationships and sense of self.

  • Complex PTSD develops through repeated or ongoing experiences of emotional neglect, inconsistency, or unsafe environments. It’s not always one major event—it’s often a series of moments that taught your nervous system to stay on guard.

    Over time, these experiences can leave you feeling unsafe in your own body, unsure of who you can trust, and stuck in cycles of anxiety, shame, or disconnection. Healing from complex PTSD means addressing both the past events and the patterns they created in the present.

    When trauma or distressing experiences get “stuck,” your body may keep reacting as if the danger is still happening through anxiety, reactivity, or shame. EMDR helps shift those experiences into the past, so they no longer intrude on your present.

  • Relational trauma happens when important relationships, especially with caregivers or partners, are unsafe, invalidating, or emotionally unpredictable. These early wounds shape the way you see yourself and others. They may leave you questioning your worth, struggling to trust, or feeling like closeness always comes with risk.

    While not the same, relational trauma and complex PTSD are closely connected. Both involve the long-term impact of unsafe relationships, and both require care that goes beyond coping skills to truly address the root causes.

  • Living with complex trauma can look different for everyone. You might notice:

    • Struggling to trust others—even those closest to you

    • Constantly second-guessing yourself or feeling “not enough”

    • Feeling dread or hypervigilance, like you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop

    • Shutting down emotionally, going numb, or feeling disconnected from yourself

    • “Overreacting” to conflict, or avoiding it at all costs

    • Falling into patterns of people-pleasing, fawning, or perfectionism

    • Longing for connection but feeling unsafe when relationships get close

    • Physical symptoms like headaches, stomach pain, or chronic fatigue that seem tied to stress

    These are not personal flaws. They’re protective strategies your nervous system developed to help you survive. With support, these patterns can shift, and healing from complex PTSD becomes possible.

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Aleah Maas, holistic therapist in San Diego, supporting clients in healing from complex PTSD

My Approach to Healing Complex Trauma

Healing from complex PTSD takes more than just talking about the past. It requires working with your mind, body, and nervous system in an integrative way. My approach is compassionate, relational, and collaborative, always at the pace that feels safe for you.

I Combine:

  • EMDR Therapy to help reprocess memories and sensations without reliving them

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS / Parts Work) to build compassion for the protective parts that have been working so hard

  • Somatic and mindfulness practices to reconnect you with your body and help your nervous system find calm

This work goes deeper than coping. It helps you:

  • Understand how your past is shaping your present

  • Rebuild trust in yourself and your relationships

  • Release shame and self-criticism

  • Create a greater sense of safety and grounding in your body

  • Feel more connected to who you are, beyond the trauma

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Frequently Asked Questions About Healing from Complex PTSD

  • PTSD often stems from a single event, while C-PTSD develops from repeated or long-term trauma. Both involve a dysregulated nervous system, but healing from complex PTSD often requires deeper relational and attachment-focused work.

  • Yes. While there’s no “quick fix,” many people find significant relief through therapies like EMDR, IFS, and somatic work. These approaches don’t just manage symptoms, they address trauma at its roots.

  • Healing from complex PTSD is not a linear process. Some clients notice shifts in a few months; others choose to continue longer for deeper healing. We’ll move at your pace and create goals that feel right for you.

  • No. With EMDR and parts work, you don’t have to relive everything for healing to happen. You are always in control of what you share.

  • Many of my clients come to me after years of traditional talk therapy. Approaches that integrate the nervous system and body can create breakthroughs where other methods haven’t.

Taking the Next Step Towards Healing Complex PTSD

Healing from complex PTSD doesn’t erase your past, but it can change how the past lives in you. You can move from survival to stability, from shame to self-compassion, and from disconnection to deeper connection—with yourself and with others.

You don’t have to carry this alone. I’d be honored to support you in your healing journey.

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Get started with Holistic Flow Therapy today.

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