A support community for those affected by C-PTSD

I want to move forward with the next steps to manage my CPTSD symptoms.

What forms of therapy have you found helpful/useful? I'm very analytical, so would love some data/feedback from others. Unfortunately I can't post a poll :) If there's interest I can try to compile the results and post it.

DBT - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique
CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
NLP - Neuro-linguistic Programming
TRE - Trauma Release Exercises
Trauma Focused Art Therapy
Somatic Experiencing/Sensorimotor Processing
IFS - Internal Family Systems
Neurofeedback
Standard Talk Therapy

I’ve been seeing the same therapist for 8 years now. She’s an eating disorder specialist but we’ve also talked quite a bit about my trauma these last few years since that’s the root cause of my ED.

So far, we’ve mainly just done basic talk therapy surrounding the trauma. I’ve shared the specific memories I have and we’ve processed a lot. It’s been helpful for me to get those things out and gain a better understanding of what I’ve experienced. I’ve also gotten really good at identifying how the trauma affects me and how it gets triggered in my daily life.

The problem is that I haven’t been able to stop the trauma from affecting me. I have a lot of great insight now but my day to day life is just as miserable as ever, which makes me feel hopeless. I basically want to see if I can actually heal the trauma rather than just understand it.

I’ve brought this up with my therapist a few times before, asking if we can do more structured trauma work—like worksheets, journaling assignments, things I can work on outside of session. She always seems receptive in the moment but the work never ends up happening. I tried to add in a trauma therapist, but all of the ones in my area only had virtual availability and I don’t find virtual therapy helpful at all. I also was concerned because it takes me a really long time to build trust with new people and I’m very sensitive to being invalidated, even if that wasn’t the person’s intention.

Also I’ve heard great things about EMDR, but I have a constant headache as well as other chronic issues (including sensory) and I think the eye movement part would be really distressing.

Are there any types of therapy that you have had success with? I’m not totally against trying to find a specialist again but I’m also curious if there’s anything I could work on with my current therapist as well, since the trust is there. Also are there any books you’ve read that have been helpful?

Hi there. I have recently been diagnosed with ADHD. I have already started on medication however my psychiatrist suggested I work with a therapist in parallel to help me understand myself better knowing what I now know, ie that I have ADHD. Plus life strategies to help my work with the diagnosis.

There are so many types of therapist, ie CBT, Somatic, person centred, ACT, etc.

Aside from ADHD coaching, I’d love to know what type of therapy worked best for you.

I been through 6 different therapists, and none of them were helpful at all. They were dismissive and tried to change my way of thinking that felt like gaslighting. Even one of the therapist specialized in autism and they just pushed alternate medicine. They were all from psychology today, so I don’t know how to find therapy that actually works

I (27F) was (secularly) homeschooled 12-18 in an enmeshed family by parents who came from traumatic background themselves. I moved out 1.5 years ago, have processed a lot on my own, but I'd like some extra help.

Thing is, I'm no longer in the stage of processing the past, for the most part. I understand -- in great detail and nuance -- what exactly my parents did and why they did it. I've broken through a lot of the unhealthy shit they taught me. But, the isolation has kept me trapped in a mental loop for years (relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms then endlessly trying to "fix" myself out of them) that I'd like to break.

Basically, I need help feeling my emotions (not thinking them), getting reconnected back to self, and healing loneliness wounds.

What type of therapy would help with this?

I’ve seen about 10 therapists and never had a lot of benefit from therapy, personally. I think they all did CBT, a lot of them worth LMFTs, some LPCs. I’m thinking about trying DBT because even though it was more designed for personality disorders, I read online that it can also be effective for bipolar disorder. Thoughts?

TLDR: what kinds of therapy have you found helpful, and any tips on how to find a good therapist? I see so many dif kinds (CBT, DBT, IFS, EMDR, etc) and im lost at where to start

I really need to get back into therapy bcuz my brain is a mess, but I can’t figure out what kind of therapist to find.

I keep hearing things like CBT isn’t that helpful when you are autistic or when you are very like self aware, and that tracks w my last therapist but she also j wasn’t that great(she was not receptive to my adhd stuff when I tried to bring it up and I wasn’t comfortable talking about queer stuff w her)

I’ve heard about DBT, IFS, EMDR, and more types of therapy, and I have no idea where to start with what would be the best for me and not make things worse, I like talking things out with people and it helps me process things sometimes, and part of why I want therapy rn is bcuz im trying to navigate friendships and life and such, but when I was doing cbt w the not the best therapist I j felt like I was rehashing old things and not getting anywhere and she wasn’t rly helping w anything it was j a space to vent about the week ig and have her tell me things I already knew.

Essentially im just wondering what kinds of therapy helped you guys, and any tips about finding a good therapist if you have any!

Where necessary elaborate on particular experiences or reasons that cause you to think so.

I (27F) was (secularly) homeschooled 12-18 in an enmeshed family by parents who came from traumatic background themselves. I moved out 1.5 years ago, have processed a lot on my own, but I'd like some extra help.

Thing is, I'm no longer in the stage of processing the past, for the most part. I understand -- in great detail and nuance -- what exactly my parents did and why they did it. I've broken through a lot of the unhealthy shit they taught me. But, the isolation has kept me trapped in a mental loop for years (relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms then endlessly trying to "fix" myself out of them) that I'd like to break.

Basically, I need help feeling my emotions (not thinking them), getting reconnected back to self, and healing loneliness wounds.

What type of therapy would help with this?

I been through 6 different therapists, and none of them were helpful at all. They were dismissive and tried to change my way of thinking that felt like gaslighting. Even one of the therapist specialized in autism and they just pushed alternate medicine. They were all from psychology today, so I don’t know how to find therapy that actually works

CBT, ACT etc etc

Edited just to say you don’t have be diagnosed

go jogging you fuck. It substantially improves your mental health. Yeah it's cold. They make worm clothes. Run in them.

You don't hate people. You just got rejected by them for so long that you tell you tell yourself that. Get back to work at finding friends. It's a life long project.

Ugh yeah that small thing is valid to be upset about but I think youre just obsessing over it to avoid the GIANT THING TO BE UPSET ABOUT

Basically I've yet to find a therapist who can outsmart my bullshit. I need to be reigned in because I can really convince people of the excuses I make for myself.

I know how smug that sounds. It's just true.

I was raised by neglectful drug addicts and never had guidance. (Edit: I'm not an addict, I have a nice job and try to be a good person). I now I'm just trying to find a touch stone. I want to be really fuckin seen and helped. But I'm goddamn persuasive. And inherently manipulative. What's a good therapy for that?

Edit: fun fact- I disagree that the type of therapy I'm asking for is wrong to want. And you are unlikely to convince me otherwise.

Edit after waking up to 500 comments: fuck. Keeping this up for people who resonated with my request. Ill be turning off notifications because damn some of you can confidently give very bad advice.

Thank you to helpful commenters who actually answered my question!

I know its didferent for everyone, and whag works with one might fail for another. But just wanted to ask.

Trying to find a form of therapy that might work for me. Chronic overthinker and ruminator, super low confidence and self esteem. Always thought cbt would be my best choice but maybe there are other methods people have found useful.

I've done a lot of thought therapy with mindfulness exercises and methods to calm my brain, but havnt really found something that fully worked. Havnt been since getting diagnosed.

I am NC with both my parents for just over a year. I've tried therapy a couple times briefly in the past; one therapist made it worse by telling my husband, "but you know your parents love you, right???" (his parents were very abusive), and essentially encouraging me to be my mom's therapist. Granted, I wasn't ready to go NC then, but looking back it seems pretty off base to me.

My more recent therapist, I was seeing when I went NC. He was overall not a bad therapist - he was kind and empathetic and all that jazz. We did somatic experiencing, some CBT, and a bit of breath work as a supplemental thing. It wasn't a bad experience but past a certain point I didn't feel like I was getting any real benefit out of it beyond just having a place to vent and cry, which I have with my husband anyway.

My parents were for the most part emotionally neglectful with a side of emotional and verbal abuse mostly from my mom. They did nothing when I had an extremely emotionally abusive teacher in the first grade, and yes, they were fully aware of the situation - the only other teacher for that grade at that school was apparently also mean & I guess they felt it was just too much trouble to look into any other alternatives for me, so they left me in the abusive teacher's class for the full year & did not get me therapy or anything after. They just figured I'd get over it, lol.

Sorry if this post comes off a little rambly. I know many people have had great results from therapy for these types of traumas, but I have found for me personally the types of therapy I have been exposed to don't seem to be effective. It doesn't seem to lessen my trauma symptoms any.

So, I just wanted to ask if anyone here has found any given mode of therapy particularly effective for these types of traumas?

I been through 6 different therapists, and none of them were helpful at all. They were dismissive and tried to change my way of thinking that felt like gaslighting. Even one of the therapist specialized in autism and they just pushed alternate medicine. They were all from psychology today, so I don’t know how to find therapy that actually works

Hey everyone,

I'm looking at different therapies to try out but I nervous about trying any therapy because in the past they haven't understood autism which didn't go well.

What is the best type of therapy for an autistic adult?

Thanks!

I (27F) was homeschooled 12-18 in an enmeshed family by parents who came from traumatic background themselves. I moved out 1.5 years ago, have processed a lot on my own, but I'd like some extra help.

Thing is, I'm no longer in the stage of processing the past, for the most part. I understand -- in great detail and nuance -- what exactly my parents did and why they did it. But, the isolation has kept me trapped in a mental loop for years (relying on unhealthy coping mechanisms then endlessly trying to "fix" myself out of them) that I'd like to break.

Basically, I need help feeling my emotions (not thinking them), getting reconnected back to self, and healing loneliness wounds.

What type of therapy would help with this?

Hi, just a forewarning - this is going to be fairly long but I need to include all of the important information, thank you in advance for reading. So I'm an 18 year old girl, and am desperately searching for help. I am diagnosed with ADHD, but also think it is very likely I have Complex PTSD as well. My mother is a therapist/coach and is very good at her job, but I need outside help in order to be able to fully open up. She believes I have C-PTSD too. My father is also a therapist but is non-traditional and focuses on unique practices (e.g psychedelic) for groups of men (he also doesn't live with me, he left when I was 2). I am giving this information to give you the context that I have been exposed to therapeutic practices and am in fairly good hands in terms of knowledge and experience of those things, yet still can't find anything to help.

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Here is the rundown of what I am struggling with: debilitating anxiety every day, short-term insomnia, depressive thoughts, hyper-vigilance, unwanted avoidance/distance from family members, obsessive thoughts about my relationship (been with boyfriend m18 for two and a half years), no energy, constant state of panic/fear, cripplingly low self-esteem, emotional dysregulation/mood swings, extreme sensitivity to rejection, codependency and intrusive thoughts about infidelity (bf cheating on me, not the other way around). There are more severe symptoms that come out in specific situations but those are pretty much all of the everyday struggles. I also want to note that most of these aren't at all warranted - my life is incredibly easy right now. I am in a loving relationship, I have a great family, I'm on a gap year doing a job I love and can choose when I want to work so I have free time for any fun plans I want to do, I have a bunch of fun summer plans coming up and I am going to my dream uni in September. I have literally nothing to worry about but I am in a constant state of worry.

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I have had 3 therapists in recent years. I stopped with all 3 of them for the same reason, which was the fact that I felt absolutely no difference from any of their sessions, despite seeing the first two for multiple months. I realised what this was - I didn't need therapy to unpack/understand my childhood trauma and resultant behaviours. Both my parents are therapists, I've grown up with emotional intelligence and understanding being greatly prioritised. I had had those conversations with my mother countless times, so delving into the past was not the thing I needed. What I needed was someone to take all of that information, review my symptoms and tell me what to do next! I know I have abandonment issues from my father, I know I feel a safety deficit from my mother and I know my overall anxiety comes from a lack of a basic foundation of love and very low self esteem, but what now?!?!!! What do I do to change that for the future? I can't live like this indefinitely, it is so incredibly tiring. After thinking all of this, I decided to look into life coaches. I saw that their focus was on the future instead of the past, and thought this would suit me. After finding one that stated she specialised in building women's confidence and lowering anxiety, I had a first session with her. She was perfectly nice, but told me that coaching may not be a good fit for me because she focused on career goals and practical tasks instead of psychological work. I then tried hypnotherapy, which was futile in helping and actually made me a lot worse, and then tried virtual EMDR which was helpful for the first session but couldn't help much more due to the fact it was online and repeated the same thing each time. I think somatic therapy or inner child work could help, but I feel nervous and pessimistic because I don't want to spend more time, emotional energy and money on another failed attempt at help, and I feel so helpless I don't want to get my hopes up again just for it to not change anything. I need something that is going to work with my subconscious brain because my conscious brain says all the right things, I never consciously think negative thoughts and try my best to be kind and loving towards myself but those are clearly not my real beliefs. I need to rewire my nervous system and find ways to build my inner strength/safety. I'm so scared that I won't be able to find anything that can help, but I literally can't do this anymore. I've read countless books, listened to a million podcasts, follow hundreds of self help/therapy accounts online, and have been journalling for the past 3 years but if anything I am getting worse. It is ruining my relationship and my life in general. If you have any idea of something that could help, please comment on this post - I am desperate.

Clinical psychology student here, looking to gain insight on what your experiences have been in therapy. I was wondering what you feel has worked best for you? Cognitive remediation therapy (working on memory, organization, planning, etc), cognitive behavioural therapy (strategies to use in your day to day life to counter distressing thoughts you have, rather than talking about past), psychodynamic (talking most about how upbringing and trauma contribute to your difficulties… more long-term, less strategy-oriented), or any other….

Audhd (28f) in Europe. I am lost and wasting money trying to find the right dr and therapy.

The most hars for me its that I am a mom and I cannot have energy to work and family, also unable to use my copping mechanisms since I became a mother.

Do you do psicanalysis, behavorial, what do you do?

Also if you know some online clinics that you could share , there is no enough resources in my country.

Thank you all and happy east

I've tried CBT and I don't know if it's that I've had therapists that don't work for me but none of the ones I've seen I felt like I made any progress. I'm still struggling with depression and anxiety but it's gotten better due to life circumstances not to therapy.

My doctor was going to up my dosage on Adderall but my anxiety is so bad my resting heart rate is between 90-100

I want to find out what can work. I feel lost on what steps to take next. I've started reading more and started trying to be less negative and cynical about life and it has helped a little but at the end of the day I still don't want to go to work, and I still don't want to get dressed or deal with a life. I want to just throw up and take a year long vacation lol

I've tried 3 therapists and haven't really felt any benefits from it. All of it has been CBT. My issue though is that I understand and know the source of all of my problems, but I can't resolve them. For example, I've been struggling with being perceived negatively and assuming people don't actually want to talk to me. It's because I didn't feel heard as a child and felt like a burden. I also felt like I had to manage my parents' emotions and navigate tension. I know that's not my responsibility. I know all of this, but it doesn't change my thought patterns. When I go to therapy I feel like the therapist is trying to make me have these aha moments, but I already have those. Is there a type of therapy that doesn't base success on the realizations of the source of your issues?

At this point I'm wondering if this can even be fixed. We've been together for 6 years with these types of issues for a lot of them, but they appear to be getting worse.

For the holidays I flew to see my family for 5 days. He can't come because for 3 of those days it was going to be just me and my sisters (who I haven't seen in a year). But honestly it shouldn't be a big deal. He's gone away by himself for the holidays before.

Everything was great between us, but while I was waiting at the airport to fly out he texted with his request. He said he was in pain and needed to get in to see a dentist that day. I said I'd try but I wouldn't have wifi on the (5 hour) flight, and googled 2 numbers near him and suggested he call when they opened.

Once I landed etc, my sister picked me up and we spent the next 2 hours straight talking. By then any dentist would have been closed, and truthfully I kind of had forgotten. I assumed he would have called dentists and gotten himself an appointment.

He texted me saying:
Him: any luck?
Me: no. :( didn't you get in to see one?
Him: no...did you even try?
Me: I can try tomorrow morning.
Him: so you didn't even try to help me when I asked, and you didn't even bother to tell me you weren't helping me.

I then said that I was indisposed most of the day and that he could make an appointment for himself much easier than I could on a travel day. He said he was in "too much pain" to make an appointment (I honestly doubt that for many reasons) and proceeded to become very angry. Calling me self centered, selfish, etc. Saying if we can't count on each other, what is the point of even being in a relationship? For the record, it's not like he ever does anything like this for me, nor do I even ask him to. He continued to insult me saying that I think I'm "fiercely independent" (I've never described myself like that) and that he thinks people who feel that way will die alone.

I admittedly started getting angry at him as well because he has a strong tendency to do things like this when I'm busy. It ended up being a very nasty texting argument that put a damper on my time with my family.

When I tell him that I feel he's doing this because he doesn't like when my attention is off him, he says no way, that's not true. And tells me I'm self-centered and gaslighting him. From my perspective he keeps inventing "crisis situations" that aren't actually a big deal and causes a lot of weird chaos.

I do want to be with him, but I don't want these issues all the time. A couple of years ago it was pretty bad and I insisted he get a therapist. He then told me his therapist said I'm no good for him, but he wants to be with me anyway because he's in love with me.

How on earth do I deal with this? I want for us to be healthy. With normal communication. It feels like this is very abnormal, but when I point it out he just tells me that I don't accept responsibility for my part in the conflicts. But that's because I don't feel like I'm doing anything wrong.

Are we just doomed? Should we try couple's counselling? At this point I'm truly confused.

tldr: bf makes annoying requests of me whenever I'm busy with something else and often becomes furious if I can't help him during theses times.

Hello, I am new to the idea of therapy and I want to take better care of myself but I’m not sure of what route to go. I have a lot of trauma that I have severe repressed and I really don’t remember much of anything from my childhood. I know that it will be intense work but I am willing to do what is needed to help myself in the best and most effective way possible if that makes sense. I have started researching hypnotherapy and EMDR but I’m not sure of what will work. Just looking for any advice thanks!!