In this episode of Relational Practice: A Social Work Podcast, Dr. Jodie Park and Rose Mackey dive deep into the intricate world of Complex Trauma (C-PTSD). Unlike traditional PTSD, which often stems from a single acute event, complex trauma results from prolonged, repeated experiences—often within a relational context where escape is difficult or impossible.

We explore:

• Defining the Difference: How C-PTSD fundamentally damages the sense of self and attachment capacity compared to standard PTSD.
• The Symptoms: A breakdown of "Disturbances in Self-Organization" (DSO), including affective dysregulation, negative self-concept, and chronic interpersonal difficulties.
• The Developing Brain: Insights from Dr. Bruce Perry on how chronic threat disrupts neurodevelopment and keeps the "survival brain" in a state of perpetual activation.
• The Four Fs: Understanding the survival responses of Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn.
• Pathways to Healing: An introduction to evidence-based, body-centered therapies like EMDR and Somatic Experiencing (SE). We discuss Peter Levine’s work on releasing "trapped" survival energy through titration and pendulation.

Join us as we shift the perspective from seeing symptoms as failures to recognizing them as remarkable neurobiological adaptations to unsafe environments.

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Music by Hannah Park

Editing by Angus Pinkstone