Therapy for Women with Childhood Trauma & CPTSD
What It Feels Like
Some people know, without question, that their childhoods were traumatic—marked by emotional abuse, neglect, chaos, or violations of safety and trust. For others, the pain is harder to name. Maybe you had what looked like a “normal” childhood on the outside: your basic needs were met, but emotionally, you were left to fend for yourself. You learned to suppress your needs, stay small, or become who others needed you to be. Either way, the impact lingers.
As an adult, you might find yourself feeling anxious or numb without knowing why. You struggle to trust others—or trust yourself. You might overfunction in relationships, take on too much, or feel like you’re always bracing for something to go wrong. You may feel shame around your needs, difficulty being vulnerable, or a deep sense that something about you is just… too much.
You’ve built a life that looks steady from the outside. But inside, it’s hard to feel safe.
What Is CPTSD?
Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) is a term used to describe the long-term effects of ongoing or repeated relational trauma—often experienced in childhood. This can include emotional neglect, verbal abuse, abandonment, or growing up in an environment where your needs weren’t consistently met.
You might relate to CPTSD if you struggle with self-doubt, emotional flashbacks, chronic shame, people-pleasing, or difficulty trusting others—even if you’re not sure “how bad” things were.
Whether or not you identify with this label, if your past is affecting your present, therapy can help. You deserve support that honors your experience and helps you feel more safe, connected, and whole.
How Therapy Can Help
Complex trauma runs deep—and its effects often linger in ways you can’t logic your way out of. Together, we’ll gently explore the patterns that formed in response to early experiences of not being emotionally seen, protected, or understood.
You’ll learn to notice what your body and emotions are telling you, to understand your nervous system’s responses, and to set boundaries that honor your capacity. We’ll work to untangle the survival strategies that once protected you but now feel limiting—people-pleasing, perfectionism, hyper-independence—and help you build new ways of relating that feel more authentic and safe.
This work isn’t about reliving the past. It’s about learning how the past lives in you now—and creating space for something new to take root.
What Healing Can Look Like
You begin to feel safer inside your own skin.
You stop walking on eggshells—in relationships, and in your own mind.
You notice when you're overriding your needs—and start choosing differently.
You feel your feelings without shame.
You rest without guilt.
You connect without losing yourself.
You begin to trust yourself more deeply.
You move through life with a greater sense of steadiness.
You see the ways you’ve adapted not as flaws, but as evidence of your strength—and you give yourself permission to heal, slowly and fully, on your own terms.
