Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) Therapy with Dr Comfort Shields (CPsychol, MPhil Oxon)
Complex PTSD often develops when trauma was repeated, inescapable, or relational — the kind of experience that changes how you
relate to safety, closeness, your body, and your sense of self. Therapy can help you reclaim stability, agency, and a life that feels like your own.
What is Complex PTSD?
C-PTSD is commonly associated with prolonged or repeated trauma, especially in situations where there was limited power, protection, or escape.
This can include childhood abuse or neglect, coercive control, domestic abuse, sexual violence, trafficking, chronic bullying, or living under sustained threat.
Common signs of C-PTSD
- Emotional dysregulation: overwhelm, numbness, panic, rage, or rapid shifts.
- Shame and self-blame: feeling “defective,” responsible, or fundamentally unsafe to be known.
- Relational difficulty: fear of closeness, fear of abandonment, people-pleasing, mistrust, or isolation.
- Dissociation: feeling unreal, detached, “gone,” or blank; losing time; shut-down under stress.
- Body-based distress: chronic tension, sleep disruption, startle responses, somatic anxiety.
- Identity impacts: uncertainty about needs, desires, boundaries, or a stable sense of self.
PTSD vs C-PTSD
PTSD often follows a specific event (or cluster of events). C-PTSD is more likely when trauma was repeated, relational, or developmental.
Treatment for C-PTSD usually requires careful pacing and an emphasis on stabilisation, safety, and integration.
How I can help
I offer trauma-focused psychotherapy and EMDR for C-PTSD, with careful attention to readiness and pacing.
For many clients, the most effective work involves both modalities — either sequentially or integrated.
Trauma-focused psychotherapy
- Weekly 50-minute sessions.
- Stabilisation, relational safety, shame reduction, boundaries, meaning-making.
- Particularly helpful when trauma is intertwined with identity and attachment patterns.
EMDR (6-session blocks)
- Offered exclusively in structured 6-session blocks (90 minutes each).
- Clinically assessed for suitability, readiness, and pacing.
- Often helpful for specific trauma “nodes” that remain highly charged.
Combination work (in either order)
Many people with C-PTSD benefit from a combination of trauma-focused psychotherapy and EMDR. This can be done in either order:
- Psychotherapy → EMDR: stabilise first, build safety and trust, then process targeted trauma memories.
- EMDR → Psychotherapy: reduce acute symptom intensity first, then integrate meaning, identity, and relational patterns.
The order depends on your history, nervous system responses, current stability, and what feels most workable.
Enquire
To enquire about C-PTSD therapy or EMDR, please email
assistant@comfortshieldspractice.com.
What treatment for C-PTSD often involves
1) Stabilisation & safety
C-PTSD work is not rushed. We begin by building steadiness — in the nervous system, in daily life, and in the therapeutic relationship.
- Grounding and regulation (tailored to you)
- Working with dissociation and shut-down
- Strengthening boundaries, self-trust, and choice
2) Processing & integration
When appropriate, we process targeted trauma material (often using EMDR) and then integrate what shifts — in self-concept,
relationships, and the body’s sense of safety.
- EMDR (6-session blocks) where clinically indicated
- Psychotherapy to integrate meaning and relationship patterns
- Reducing shame, restoring agency, reclaiming emotional range
When to seek help
- If your nervous system feels “stuck” in fight/flight/freeze or numbness.
- If relationships feel unsafe, confusing, or emotionally costly.
- If you carry persistent shame, self-blame, or a sense of being “broken.”
- If you dissociate, lose time, or feel unreal under stress.
If you feel at risk of immediate harm or are in crisis, please contact emergency services or your GP urgently.
C-PTSD Therapy FAQs
Do I have to tell you everything that happened?
No. We work carefully and at a pace that respects your nervous system. C-PTSD therapy is not about forcing disclosure.
It is about restoring safety, choice, and integration.
Is EMDR suitable for Complex PTSD?
For many people, yes — when it is paced well and used selectively. In complex presentations, EMDR often works best
after stabilisation and preparation, and alongside psychotherapy to support integration.
Can therapy help if the trauma happened in childhood?
Yes. C-PTSD frequently involves developmental and relational impacts that can be worked with in psychotherapy,
often alongside targeted trauma processing where appropriate.
Can we combine EMDR and trauma-focused psychotherapy?
Yes. Many clients benefit from a combination. This can be done in either order — psychotherapy followed by EMDR,
or EMDR followed by psychotherapy — depending on what is clinically appropriate and what feels most workable for you.
Ready to begin?
To enquire about C-PTSD therapy (Harley Street or online), please email
assistant@comfortshieldspractice.com.
