Working With Complex Trauma

Heal Deep Relational Wounds

Complex Trauma CPD

A must have CPD to add to your private practice

Delivery Format

In person

Duration

15 hours of Intense Complex Trauma Training

Entry Requirements

An interest in adding to your counselling profession

Working With PTSD & Complex Trauma

This course provides qualified counsellors with a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of trauma-informed care. You’ll begin by exploring the nature of trauma—distinguishing between single-incident PTSD and the layered, relational wounds of complex trauma—and examining how these experiences reshape the brain, body, and sense of self. Through this foundation, you’ll gain clarity on diagnostic frameworks, including the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD, while also recognising the wider constellation of symptoms often seen in complex trauma, such as emotional dysregulation, shame, and disrupted identity.

Please get in touch if you would like to complete this course, or please use the enrol form link below. The course is taught from our college in Lincoln.

As a college we are an Organisational Member of the BACP and ISPC, encouraging ethics and standards.

How long is the course?

The course is taught part time over 15 hours at Ridgeway College in Lincoln.

What is involved on the course?

You’ll develop practical skills to support clients safely and ethically. This includes learning how to recognise signs of trauma, manage acute distress, and apply grounding techniques to help clients stay present during flashbacks, panic attacks, or intrusive memories. Emphasis is placed on Safe Trauma Therapy—working within the client’s window of tolerance, avoiding re-traumatisation, and fostering stability before deeper processing. You’ll also explore the three established stages of trauma therapy: establishing safety, processing traumatic memories, and integration/reconnection.

Finally, the course examines how early attachment experiences shape a client’s expectations of relationships—including the therapeutic one. You’ll gain insight into different attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant, disorganised) and reflect on how these influence trust, boundaries, and transference in the counselling room. By integrating this understanding with trauma theory, you’ll be better equipped to build resilient, attuned, and healing therapeutic relationships that honour the client’s pace and potential.

1. Understanding Trauma, PTSD, and Complex Trauma

This section defines trauma through the lens of the DSM-5 while expanding beyond diagnostic criteria to explore the profound psychological and physiological impact of single-incident versus prolonged, relational trauma. It distinguishes PTSD from complex trauma—emphasising how repeated violations by trusted figures lead to deep disruptions in identity, emotion regulation, and relational functioning. The course clarifies that trauma is not just about the event, but how it reshapes the nervous system, memory, and sense of self over time.

Trauma defined via DSM-5 criteria (direct exposure, witnessing, or learning about trauma to close others)
Distinction between Type I (single-event) and Type II (complex, repeated) trauma
Core symptoms of PTSD: intrusion, avoidance, negative cognitions, and hyper-arousal
Complex trauma symptoms: dissociation, shame, self-harm, somatic complaints, and loss of meaning
Limitations of DSM-5 in capturing the full scope of complex trauma responses

2. The Neurobiology and Psychological Impact of Trauma

Here, the course explores how trauma hijacks the brain’s alarm system—particularly the amygdala, hippocampus, and autonomic nervous system—leading to states of hyperarousal (fight/flight) or hypoarousal (freeze/collapse). It explains how unprocessed memories remain “alive” and intrusive, why avoidance intensifies symptoms, and how chronic stress reshapes brain structure and function. Understanding these mechanisms helps normalise survivors’ reactions and reduces shame, framing symptoms as adaptive survival strategies rather than pathology.

Role of the limbic system in threat detection and memory processing
Hyperarousal (anxiety, irritability, panic) vs. hypoarousal (numbness, dissociation, shutdown)
How flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive memories reflect unprocessed trauma

3. Safe, Phase-Oriented Trauma Therapy and Therapeutic Relationship

Effective trauma work requires a structured, phased approach that prioritises safety and stabilisation before trauma processing. This section outlines Herman’s three-stage model and stresses the therapeutic relationship as the primary healing tool. It covers psychoeducation, grounding techniques, boundary setting, and pacing—while warning against premature exposure that risks retraumatisation. The counsellor’s qualities—calmness, authenticity, secure attachment, and containment—are highlighted as essential to fostering trust and post-traumatic growth.

Stage 1: Safety, stabilisation, symptom management, and building therapeutic alliance
Stage 2: Processing trauma narrative, grieving losses, and integrating memories
Stage 3: Reconnection, post-traumatic growth, and preparing for ending

4. Working with Attachment, Shame, and Self-Compassion

Trauma is deeply relational—and so is healing. This section examines how early attachment styles (secure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganised) shape a client’s expectations of therapy and capacity for trust.

It addresses the corrosive role of shame and self-blame, common in survivors, and introduces compassion-focused strategies—including mindfulness, safe-place imagery, and the “perfect nurturer” exercise—to activate the brain’s soothing system. 1The goal is to help clients replace self-criticism with self-kindness and rebuild a coherent, worthy sense of self.

Attachment styles as survival adaptations influencing therapeutic dynamics
Disorganised attachment: “fright without solution” when the caregiver is the source of danger
Shame as a core wound (“I am bad”) vs. guilt (“I did something bad”)
Compassion-focused therapy to counteract threat-based self-criticism
Guided imagery, mindfulness, and letter-writing to cultivate self-compassion and integration

Completion of the Working with Complex Trauma CPD?

After completing this course, you will have a robust, trauma-informed framework for understanding and supporting clients affected by PTSD and complex trauma. You’ll be able to recognise the psychological and neurobiological impacts of trauma, differentiate between single-incident and relational trauma, and apply safe, phase-oriented therapeutic approaches.

You’ll possess practical skills to help clients manage flashbacks, panic attacks, and dissociation using grounding and stabilisation techniques. Crucially, you’ll understand the vital role of attachment, shame, and the therapeutic relationship—and how to foster safety, self-compassion, and post-traumatic growth without re-traumatising the client.

“

This CPD deepened my clinical practice in ways I didn’t expect. The clear explanations of hyper-arousal, hypo-arousal, and dissociation finally helped me understand what my clients were truly experiencing—not just ‘resisting’ or ‘shutting down.’ The grounding techniques, phase-oriented framework, and emphasis on safety before processing have transformed how I structure sessions. Most importantly, the focus on attachment and the therapist’s own presence reminded me that healing happens in relationship—not just technique. I now feel far more confident, ethically grounded, and compassionately equipped to walk alongside survivors of complex trauma.

Clare Y

Qualified Counsellor

”

Enrol at Ridgeway College...journey through complete counsellor training

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