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If you've ever sat in your therapist's office and thought "I sort of just want you to take care of me" and then felt embarrassed for even thinking it, this episode is for you. Listener Laurie wrote in after the "I Finally Stopped Shrinking" episode asking why being truly seen by a therapist can feel so activating, why grounding doesn't always hit the way her therapist intends it to, and why part of her just wants her therapist to show up more parentally even though she knows that's not the answer. We took her question and ran with it. Today I'm joined by Katie Fries, LCSW, RPT, founder of All of You Therapy in Philadelphia, to talk about what's actually happening in the nervous system when the therapy relationship itself becomes the source of activation, and why that's not a sign something is wrong with you. In this episode we cover: Why wanting your therapist to parent you is not pathology, it's your nervous system doing exactly what it learned to doWhy being truly seen can trigger a threat response for people with complex traumaWhen grounding can actually widen a rupture instead of helpingWhat needs to happen before any regulation tool can landWhat co-regulation really looks like in the therapy roomWhy the therapist's own nervous system regulation matters more than most people realizeWhat relational repair actually looks like in practiceHow to bring a rupture into the room even when it feels terrifyingHow to know if this is a healing edge or a therapist fit issueAbout Katie Fries: Katie Fries, MSW, LCSW, RPT is the founder of All of You Therapy, a group therapy practice in Center City Philadelphia serving clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Katie works from a relational, body-oriented, experiential lens with a deep specialization in early relational trauma, attachment, and parent-child relationships. She is trained in AEDP, IFS, Gestalt, Theraplay, EMDR, and Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy among many others. Katie also offers clinical and business consultation. Learn more about her therapy practice: allofyoutherapy.net  For theraists looking for consultation: katiefries.com Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

If you've ever wondered why the harshest voice in your head won't quiet down, this episode might help you reframe the why's behind it. This week I sits down with Emily Pagone, LCPC, founder of Authentic Growth Wellness Group and host of The Inner Critic Podcast. Emily specializes in IFS therapy, EMDR, and somatic approaches with a particular focus on complex trauma and neurodivergent trauma recovery. We talk about what the inner critic actually is through an IFS lens, why it developed, and why trying to silence it usually backfires. We get honest about our neurodivergent nervous systems, masking, and the shame that builds when your brain was never really understood growing up. If parts work is new to you, this is a great place to start. If you've been in it for a while, there's still something here. Find Emily at the Inner Critic Podcast on Apple and Spotify, and on Instagram at Emily @emilypagone. Learn more about her therapy practice, Authentic Growth Wellness Group here. Listen to The Inner Critic Podcast on Apple Podcasts  Listen to The Inner Critic Podcast on Spotify Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

You did the work. You stopped shrinking. You let someone in. And it still ended with you feeling invisible. So what do you do with that? In this episode I'm responding to a message from a listener going through a divorce. She didn't shrink. She showed up fully. And it still ended in abandonment.  Her question was simple and devastating: how do you reconcile that? And, how do you ever trust again? On today's episode I get into why adult relationships can reopen old wounds rather than heal them, what your nervous system is actually doing when someone starts pulling away, the difference between a trigger and a real present wound, and what rebuilding trust actually looks like from the inside out. This one is for anyone who thought they'd finally broken the pattern only to find themselves right back in the wound. Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

In today's episode, I'm sitting down with Libby Ward, creator, speaker, and author of Honest Motherhood: On Losing My Mind and Finding Myself, to talk about what it really looks like to wake up mid-motherhood and realize you never actually knew yourself to begin with. Not because motherhood took you away from yourself, but because trauma did that long before your kids ever showed up. We talk about the overfunctioning, the perfectionism, the hypervigilance disgused up as "being a good mom," and the moment Libby hit a wall in her car on an ordinary morning that changed everything.  We also get into repair, the grief that comes with cycle breaking, and why loving your kids, while beautiful, is not actually enough on its own. This one is raw, honest, and so worth your time. In this episode we cover: How Libby recognized her childhood trauma well into motherhoodThe nervous system reality behind why "just calm down" isn't a real optionOverfunctioning and perfectionism as trauma responsesThe granola bar moment (you will feel this one)What cycle breaking actually looks like on a regular TuesdayThe grief of knowing better and still strugglingWhy repair might be the most powerful thing you can offer your kidsLibby's book Honest Motherhood and what's inside the pre-order bonusLinks and resources: Libby's website: https://libbyward.com/  Pre-order Honest Motherhood: On Losing My Mind and Finding Myself at https://libbyward.com/honest-motherhood-book Follow Libby on Instagram Follow Libby on TikTok Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

You might not call it shame. But if you were emotionally neglected, there's a chance it's been running the show. Most people who grew up emotionally neglected don't have a name for what they carry. They just know that asking for help feels wrong, that they can't stop replaying conversations, that being seen makes them want to disappear. This episode is about why that story forms, where it lives in the body, and why it's so hard to recognize as shame at all. I break down the difference between shame from overt trauma and the kind that grows from absence, why a child's nervous system is wired to turn unmet needs into self-blame, and what it actually looks like to start healing something you can't even point to. In this episode: Why emotional neglect is described as an invisible injuryHow shame forms as a survival strategy to preserve attachmentThe version of freeze that looks like high-functioningWhy self-awareness can sometimes be shame in disguiseWhat it means that your nervous system never built a map for settledThe grief of growing up in an environment that couldn't hold all of youWhat healing actually looks like when insight alone isn't enough- Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

Sex and complex trauma. It's one of those topics that doesn't get nearly enough airtime, and yet it comes up so frequently in the therapy room. In this episode I'm talking with Rachael Garner, a certified sex therapist and EMDR clinician who works with complex trauma survivors, about what actually happens to our relationship with sex, desire, and our bodies when we've experienced complex trauma. And there is a lot more nuance here than most people realize. We talk about why dissociation during sex happens and what your body is doing when it checks out. We get into the difference between physiological arousal and actual desire, why zero libido sometimes has nothing to do with your partner, and how sexual neglect, not just abuse, can shape the way you relate to your own sexuality. We also talk about what healing looks like in this area, why it has to be slow, what partners often get wrong even with the best intentions, and how nervous system flexibility connects trauma work and sexual healing in a way that's genuinely hopeful. Rachael Garner is a Certified Sex Therapist, an EMDR Certified Therapist, and an EMDRIA-Approved Consultant-in-Training specializing in complex trauma and sexual issues through a somatic- and attachment-based lens. She is in private practice in Jackson MS, where she resides with her husband and two boys.  Learn more about Rachael and her work at https://www.garnercounseling.com. Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

If you've ever gone completely blank in the middle of a hard conversation, or found yourself frozen, heart hammering, unable to say a single thing, this episode is for you. A listener wrote in asking why she shuts down instead of getting upset. Why everyone else seems to cry or fight while she just goes numb and feels nothing. And whether something is wrong with her. The answer is no. And this whole episode is the explanation. We cover the difference between freeze and shutdown, because they get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. Freeze is high activation trapped under stillness. Shutdown is the system going offline entirely. Two different nervous system responses, two different origins, two different things that actually help. We also talk about why the tools that usually work, breathing, grounding, thinking your way through it, don't reach you when you're in shutdown, and what actually does. If you recognize yourself in either of these patterns, this episode will give you language for something that's probably been really hard to explain. - Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

If you've done the work, learned the tools, and still feel like you're white knuckling through every single day, this episode is for you. For many people with complex PTSD and developmental trauma, calm isn't somewhere familiar to return to. It's something that has to be built, maybe for the first time. And that changes everything about how healing needs to look. This episode breaks down three concepts from developmental trauma research that explain why nervous system regulation can feel so darn hard, and why that has nothing to do with how hard you're trying. Foundational dysregulation. Blended autonomic states. Defensive accommodations. These are the missing pieces that explain why you can feel wired and exhausted at the same time, why your coping strategies became your personality, and why the standard regulation tools keep hitting a wall. This episode draws on the work of Peter Levine and clinical literature on the side effects of developmental trauma. You are absolutely not broken. There is a real reason you feel the way you do. Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

Childhood emotional neglect doesn't always look like what you'd expect. Sometimes it looks like a parent who showed up to every game, made dinner every night, and still wasn't really there. That gap between what was present and what was missing is exactly what we're unpacking today. Dr. Danica Harris is a somatic experiencing practitioner and complex trauma expert, and she breaks down why emotional neglect is so hard to identify, what it costs the body to grow up as the easy kid, and what healing actually looks like when you go low and slow. If you've ever said "I had a good childhood" and still felt like something was off, this one is for you. Find Dr. Danica Harris @theempoweredtherapist on Instagram and Facebook @empoweredhealingdallas for her group practice Check out her group practice here and learn more about working with Danica here - Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

After my conversation with Janina Fisher about dissociative parts, my inbox exploded with questions about dissociation. So today, I'm answering three that showed up a few times In this episode, we're covering: Why you might dissociate MORE in therapy than anywhere else (and why that doesn't mean therapy isn't working)How to tell the difference between zoning out and actual dissociationWhy you can tell your trauma story without feeling anything, and what that really meansIf you've ever driven home from therapy wondering why your brain keeps checking out, or if you've told your story a hundred times but can't seem to access the feelings, this episode is for you. What You'll Learn: Early warning signs of dissociation in your body (before it fully takes over)How to use orienting to stay present when things get heavyThe difference between depersonalization and derealizationWhy emotional numbness is protection, not proof that nothing happenedThree concrete ways to start rebuilding the bridge between your story and your bodyMentioned in This Episode: Episode with Janina Fisher on dissociative parts (listen if you haven't yet!)Window of toleranceState-dependent memoryDorsal vagal shutdown response Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

Betrayal doesn't just hurt.  It rewires your nervous system, shakes your ability to trust yourself, and makes you question everything you thought you knew about your relationship.  In this episode, Joe Sanok shares what happened when his marriage ended suddenly on an RV trip, how he navigated the shock of becoming an unexpected single dad, and what it actually took to rebuild his life without replaying the same patterns. Joe talks openly about waking up in a camper next to someone who was already gone, the nervous system chaos that followed, and why he built a "support committee" instead of white-knuckling his way through alone.  We also get into dating after betrayal, how to show up for yourself when everything feels uncertain, and what it looks like to trust again without abandoning the parts of you that are still healing. This conversation is for anyone who's been blindsided by betrayal, anyone who's had to rebuild their sense of safety from the ground up, or anyone who's wondered if they'll ever feel solid in a relationship again. Topics covered: What betrayal trauma does to your nervous systemHow Joe's marriage ended and what the early days looked likeWhy building a support committee matters more than going it aloneDating after betrayal without repeating the same patternsLearning to trust yourself again after your judgment feels brokenHow to parent through your own crisisRebuilding safety in your body and relationshipsDownload Joe's new book: Dating After Betrayal: A Guided Healing and Re-Entry Experience here. Listen to Joe's podcast, Practice of the Practice on Apple or Spotify Learn more about Joe's Consulting Services Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

What if forgetting your childhood, feeling disconnected from your emotions, or experiencing different "versions" of yourself weren't signs that something's wrong with you, but evidence of how brilliantly your brain protected you? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Janina Fisher, one of the leading experts on trauma and dissociation, to unpack what dissociation actually is and why it's a survival response, not a pathology. We talk about why so many people say "I had a good childhood" even when they can barely remember it, what's really happening when you lose time or feel like different parts take over, and how understanding your parts can change everything about how you heal. Dr. Fischer breaks down her Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) model and explains why chasing "safety" might be the wrong goal if you've never known what safety feels like. This conversation gets real about fight parts, attached parts, and why noticing what's happening inside you matters more than remembering every detail of what happened to you. If you've ever felt fragmented, disconnected, or like parts of you don't quite fit together, this episode will help you see yourself through a completely different lens. Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

This episode is a bit different. If it's not for you, that's okay. Right now, a lot of us are struggling. The anxiety that won't quit, the rage that scares you, the numbness that makes you wonder what's wrong with you, the exhaustion that feels bone-deep. You're not overreacting. Your nervous system is responding to real threat. In this episode, we talk about what happens in your body when threat is ongoing and there's no clear way to resolve it. We look at vicarious trauma, suppressed anger, grief that doesn't feel like sadness, and the shame of struggling when you think you should be stronger. If you're trying to figure out how to care without being destroyed by it, how to stay engaged without depleting yourself completely, this one's for you. Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

In this episode, I sit down with Cassidy DuHadway, author of "Becoming Me," to talk about religious trauma as complex trauma. We dig into how growing up in systems that demand you not be yourself creates deep attachment wounds, shame spirals, and an outsourcing of your internal knowing. Cassidy breaks down what religious trauma actually is, how it shows up in adult relationships, and why leaving or deconstructing your faith creates such profound grief and identity loss. We talk about the cost of purity culture, the weight of intergenerational patterns, and what it takes to rebuild when everything you knew gets questioned. This conversation is for anyone who's felt the quiet pressure to conform, who's carried shame that never quite made sense, or who's grieving what could have been if they'd had different choices earlier in life. About Cassidy DuHadway: Cassidy DuHadway, LCSW, is a trauma therapist, EMDR Approved Trainer, and author of "Becoming Me: Unraveling and Healing the Sacred Wounds of Religious Trauma." She specializes in complex trauma and emotional neglect and is the CEO of Purple Sky Counseling in Utah. Connect with Cassidy: Follow Cassidy on Instagram: @therapywithcassidyCheck out her website: cassidyduhadway.comPurchase her book: "Becoming Me: Unraveling and Healing The Sacred Wounds of Religious TraumaLearn more about her Utah therapy practice and work with her team: Purple Sky Counseling Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

"What counts as a trigger for CPTSD? And why do I get triggered by everyday stuff that shouldn't feel threatening?" If you've ever found yourself completely activated by something that seems small to everyone else (a text message, a tone of voice, someone's silence), this episode is for you. I'm breaking down what triggers actually are in complex trauma, why your body responds to threat cues that your conscious mind doesn't recognize, and what to do when you feel like you're walking around with an invisible tripwire system. What we cover: Why triggers are often reminders of a state rather than a specific event The neuroscience behind why your body can hold trauma even when you don't have clear memories How to tell the difference between being triggered and being overloaded Seven practical steps to work with your triggers without turning life into a self-monitoring project Why the whole "I shouldn't be triggered because I don't remember anything" mindset is keeping you stuck. Download my FREE Dysregulation Toolkit Here!  Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast! Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw  Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.