CPTSD: A bid for survival

CPTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) makes relationships feel so hard. It is hard to trust someone, it is hard to feel safe around others, and it is hard to feel calm.

The world feels unsafe because, at one time, the world was unsafe. You survived a harsh environment of neglect, instability, and emotional or physical abuse, so your nervous system adapted to that environment.  As a result, you might experience emotional numbing, hypervigilance, people-pleasing or isolation. These are protective adaptations because your nervous system cannot tell what year it is. It sees, smells, hears, feels things that are similar to that chaotic past, and it believes you are right there in it.
 
Please contact me for more information about psychotherapy for CPTSD.

Chris Warren-Dickins
​Psychotherapist in Ridgewood, New Jersey