Childhood & Complex Trauma Therapy for Adults
Childhood & Complex Trauma Therapy for Adults
Online Across North Dakota
Online Across North Dakota
Embedded Files
You’re not broken—you’re stuck in patterns that once helped you survive, but aren’t helping you anymore.
You’re not broken—you’re stuck in patterns that once helped you survive, but aren’t helping you anymore.
You may have spent so much time adapting that you’re not sure who you are underneath it all.
You may have spent so much time adapting that you’re not sure who you are underneath it all.
Many adults live with the effects of childhood trauma without fully recognizing it. It just feels like: "This is how I am." You might describe your childhood as “fine,” tell yourself that others had it worse, or struggle to connect what you’re feeling now to anything from the past.
Anxiety and irritability feel constant. Small things set you off more than they should, and you start feeling like the world is against you. Relationships can feel complicated or unstable. You have a hard time trusting others, which leads to becoming who you need to be to fit the people around you. When those relationships change, you’re left feeling disconnected and questioning who you really are. There can be this underlying sense that something is missing. You may feel numb at times, or constantly on edge. Even when things are “going well,” it’s hard to fully relax or feel settled.
You do not need a dramatic story
You do not need a dramatic story
for your pain to be valid.
for your pain to be valid.
Chronic trauma is often less about specific memories and more about the patterns it leaves behind—especially in how you think about yourself, relate to others, and move through the world. These are nervous system responses that once helped you survive but is limiting you now. It leads to unhelpful beliefs like “I’m not enough,” “Everything is my fault,” and low self esteem.
Disordered Eating
Disordered Eating
Many of my clients experience disordered eating, which is often closely connected to trauma. When you’ve lived through chronic stress or instability, it can create a deep sense of feeling out of control. For some, that shows up in their relationship with food, body image, and ongoing self-criticism. Clients often describe patterns that include binge eating followed by intense guilt, shame, or feelings of worthlessness, restricting food or over-exercising in an attempt to feel more in control, or cycles of “trying to fix it” that never quite last. What makes this especially difficult is that these behaviors often work in the moment—they serve a purpose. In our work together, we look beyond the behavior itself to understand what’s driving it, how it’s impacting you over time, and how to create more sustainable ways of coping.
Chronic Pain
Chronic Pain
Many of the adult clients I support are also navigating chronic pain and/or medical concerns, and often feel dismissed or invalidated within the current medical system. Having personally experienced this, I understand how isolating and frustrating that can be. The stress associated with these experiences is often deeply interwoven into the therapeutic process, as it is difficult—if not impossible—to fully separate physical and emotional health. Chronic pain creates chronic stress, directly interacting with the nervous system and significantly impacting one another over time. Because of this, I believe it is important to attend to chronic health concerns alongside trauma work, rather than treating them as unrelated or separate experiences.
Relationships
Relationships
When conflict feels constant or connection feels distant, relationships can begin to feel tense, reactive, or emotionally exhausting. Often, these patterns are shaped by stress, mistrust, communication challenges, or unresolved wounds that continue showing up in everyday interactions. Therapy can help you better understand how past experiences may be influencing the way you relate to others today. Whether you're struggling with emotional safety, recurring conflict, difficulty trusting, people-pleasing, boundary-setting, or feeling disconnected from the people who matter most, healing old wounds can create space for healthier, more secure relationships. For those seeking couples therapy, this work can be especially helpful in exploring how individual trauma histories affect relationship dynamics and learn to foster healthier communication and connection.
A Structured, Steady Approach to Healing Childhood & Complex Trauma
As things begin to shift over time, it becomes easier to re-engage with life—not just as a way to cope, but because you genuinely enjoy it. This can show up in small but meaningful ways—feeling more productive, more connected in your relationships, and more comfortable being your authentic self. You may find yourself making decisions that actually support you, rather than second-guessing or falling into old patterns.
Our work together is intentional, steady, and tailored to you. We don’t rush the process—we build it in a way that actually supports lasting change. Trauma-informed therapy doesn’t require you to blame caregivers or relive every painful experience. Instead, we focus on helping you feel more stable and supported in the present. That might include building tools to regulate your nervous system, understanding your responses with compassion rather than judgment, and exploring patterns—especially in relationships—that have developed over time. Sometimes we include experiential therapies such as Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and/or Accelerated Resolution Therapy to complement the work, especially when feeling stuck.
As the work deepens, we gently process past experiences in a way that feels manageable, so they no longer dominate your day-to-day life. Over time, this can help you build stronger self-trust, clearer boundaries, and a greater sense of emotional resilience.
With the right support, many people begin to feel more regulated, more connected in their relationships, and less controlled by anxiety or old patterns.
Therapy for childhood and complex trauma can help you:
Therapy for childhood and complex trauma can help you:
Identify patterns and triggers that keep you stuck
Feel more in control of your emotions and responses
Reconnect with your sense of self and identity
Set healthier boundaries and build more secure relationships
Reduce anxiety, shame, and harsh self-criticism
Make sense of your past in a way that supports your growth—not holds you back
It’s possible to feel more in control, make sense of your experiences, and start moving forward in a way that actually feels like you.
FAQ
Q: What Is Childhood Trauma?
Q: What Is Childhood Trauma?
Childhood trauma occurs when a child’s nervous system is repeatedly overwhelmed by experiences that feel unsafe, unpredictable, emotionally unavailable, or frightening—and there is not enough consistent support to restore a sense of safety. Trauma is not defined solely by what happened, but by how the child’s nervous system adapted in order to survive.
Childhood trauma can include:
Emotional neglect or lack of attunement
Inconsistent, unpredictable, or overwhelmed caregivers
Chronic criticism, shaming, or conditional love
Exposure to conflict, substance use, or untreated mental illness in the home
Loss, abandonment, or repeated separations
Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
Medical trauma or prolonged hospitalizations
Even when caregivers were loving or “did their best,” trauma can still occur if a child’s emotional needs were consistently unmet. Trauma is about impact, not intent.
Q: What Is Complex Trauma?
Q: What Is Complex Trauma?
Complex trauma (also referred to as developmental trauma or complex PTSD) develops when stressful or unsafe experiences happen repeatedly over time, especially within close relationships in childhood or adulthood. Rather than a single traumatic event, complex trauma shapes how the brain, nervous system, sense of self, and relationships develop. Because complex trauma is woven into everyday life, many adults experience its effects without clear memories or without identifying their experiences as traumatic.
Q: What if my childhood wasn’t “that bad”?
Q: What if my childhood wasn’t “that bad”?
This is more common than you might think. Many adults don’t immediately recognize the impact of their early experiences because what they grew up with felt normal at the time. You may have grown up in an environment where stress felt “just the way things were,” or where emotional needs were overlooked. You might have learned early on to be independent, keep the peace, or rely only on yourself.
Because this kind of trauma is often subtle and ongoing—rather than a single obvious event—it can show up as patterns or personality traits instead of something that clearly feels like a trauma response.
It’s also common to compare your experiences to more extreme forms of abuse and feel like “it wasn’t that bad.” But over time, the ways you adapted to get through childhood can start to feel confusing or distressing in adulthood. You do not need a dramatic story for your pain to be valid. Therapy is a collaborative space to explore these experiences at your own pace.
Q: What if this sounds like me, but I don’t think I’ve experienced trauma?
Q: What if this sounds like me, but I don’t think I’ve experienced trauma?
This is very common and not all trauma looks obvious or extreme. Many adults don’t immediately recognize the impact of their early experiences or chronic stress because what they experienced felt normal at the time. You may have been in an environment where stress was constant, emotional needs were overlooked, or you had to learn how to keep the peace and only rely on yourself.
Because childhood and complex trauma is often subtle and ongoing—rather than a single obvious event—it can show up as patterns or personality traits instead of something that clearly feels like a trauma response. It can just feel like part of who you are.
It’s also natural to compare your experiences to more extreme situations and think, “It wasn’t that bad.” But over time, the ways you adapted to get through can start to feel confusing or limiting in adulthood —and that’s a valid place to start.
In our work together, we don’t have to label anything right away. Instead, we focus on understanding your patterns, your history, and what’s been shaping your experience. From there, we can begin to make sense of what’s really going on—at a pace that feels right for you.
Q: What if I don’t remember much from my childhood, but still struggle with these patterns?
Q: What if I don’t remember much from my childhood, but still struggle with these patterns?
Trauma isn’t always stored as clear, conscious memories. Often, it lives in the body as patterns—especially when experiences were ongoing, subtle, or happened early in life.
So even without a clear story, you might still feel the effects: anxiety, disconnection, or reactions that don’t fully make sense.
In our work together, we don’t rely on having all the answers upfront. We focus on what’s showing up now, and help your system begin to feel safer—so those patterns can start to shift.
This is also why I offer alternative forms of therapy such as Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Accelerated Resolution Therapy.
Q: Why do I react so strongly, even when I know I’m safe?
Q: Why do I react so strongly, even when I know I’m safe?
This is often how trauma shows up.
Childhood and complex trauma aren’t just stored in memory—they’re held in the nervous system and body. So even if you can’t point to a specific event, your body may still be carrying patterns of danger, unpredictability, or emotional disconnection.
That’s why things like tone of voice, conflict, closeness, or stress can trigger strong reactions that feel automatic or hard to control.
In therapy, we focus on helping your nervous system begin to recognize that the present is different from the past—so those responses don’t have to keep taking over.
Q: What if I’ve been given other diagnoses?
Q: What if I’ve been given other diagnoses?
That’s very common—especially when trauma is part of the picture. Some symptoms that get labeled as separate diagnoses can actually be adaptations to unresolved trauma. When trauma hasn’t been fully explored or addressed, it can be hard to tell what’s being driven by those experiences and what may be something separate. In our work together, we’ll slow things down and take a closer look at the full picture. From there, we can build a clearer, more accurate understanding of what you’re experiencing—one that actually supports your healing.
Q: What does trauma-informed therapy actually look like? Will I have to relive everything?
Q: What does trauma-informed therapy actually look like? Will I have to relive everything?
Trauma-informed therapy doesn’t require you to blame caregivers or relive every painful experience.
Instead, we focus on helping you feel more stable and supported in the present. That might include building tools to regulate your nervous system, understanding your responses with compassion rather than judgment, and exploring patterns—especially in relationships—that have developed over time.
As the work deepens, we gently process past experiences in a way that feels manageable, so they no longer dominate your day-to-day life. Over time, this can help you build stronger self-trust, clearer boundaries, and a greater sense of emotional resilience.
With the right support, many people begin to feel more regulated, more connected in their relationships, and less controlled by anxiety or old patterns.
Q: What if I’m not sure I’m ready to start this type of therapy?
Q: What if I’m not sure I’m ready to start this type of therapy?
That’s completely okay—and actually very common. Many of my clients start in that exact place. Part of our work is helping you feel more prepared and supported to begin, at a pace that feels right for you. You won’t be pushed into anything you’re not ready for.
Page updated
Report abuse