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What is complex trauma?
Content note: This page talks about childhood sexual abuse and its impacts. It is not graphic, but it may be distressing. Please take care of yourself while reading, and step away whenever you need to. The Quick Exit bar at the bottom of this site will close this page at any time.
Complex trauma is repeated, ongoing and often extreme interpersonal trauma, that is, trauma between people. It can include violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation experienced as a child, young person or adult. Childhood sexual abuse is one of the most significant causes of complex trauma in Australia.
This is different from a single-incident trauma, like a car accident or natural disaster. Complex trauma usually happens within relationships that were supposed to be safe, often over months or years, and often at an age when the brain and body were still developing. Because the harm happens in relationships, its effects tend to show up in relationships too: with others, with the world, and with yourself.
How complex trauma can show up
Complex trauma affects everyone differently, and no list will fit every person. Many survivors describe some of the following:
Feeling constantly on alert or unable to relax, even when things are safe.
Finding it hard to trust people, or swinging between closeness and withdrawal in relationships.
Strong waves of emotion that feel hard to manage, or feeling numb and shut down.
Feeling disconnected from your body, your emotions or the present moment.
Deep shame, harsh self-criticism or a persistent sense of being different or broken.
Anxiety, depression and symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including intrusive memories or nightmares.
Physical symptoms like tension, pain, exhaustion and trouble sleeping.
If you recognise yourself here, please hold onto this: these are normal responses to what happened, not personal failings. They are ways your mind and body adapted to help you survive, and with the right support, they can change.
Complex trauma and diagnosis
Some survivors relate to the term complex PTSD (C-PTSD), which clinicians may use to describe the effects of prolonged, repeated trauma. Others never seek or want a diagnosis, and that is okay too. A diagnosis can sometimes help people access certain supports, but you do not need a label for your experiences to be real or deserving of care. A trauma-experienced professional can talk this through with you. Left Write Hook's research with the University of Melbourne measures symptoms of complex PTSD, and shows they can reduce with the right support.
The body remembers
Trauma is not only stored in memories. It lives in the body. Many survivors find that talking alone does not reach everything, because the body is still holding what happened. That is why many effective approaches to recovery include the body as well as the mind. At Left Write Hook, movement is one of our core values: we use body-based practice, through trauma-informed non-contact boxing, in recognition of the body's role in storing and healing trauma, alongside writing that helps survivors find words for their experience.
“Left Write Hook felt like I untangled my trauma from its tight little ball inside my chest.”
Coping and grounding
While deeper healing takes time and support, there are gentle things many survivors find helpful day to day: simple grounding practices that bring your attention back to the present through your senses, movement that feels safe and chosen, creative expression like writing or drawing, time with safe people, and steady routines around sleep and food. None of these are about pushing through or fixing yourself. They are about giving your nervous system moments of safety. Blue Knot Foundation publishes practical self-care resources for survivors, and our program builds grounding tools into every session.
Recovery is possible
People can and do recover from complex trauma. The Blue Knot Foundation is Australia's National Centre of Excellence for Complex Trauma and provides extensive information on understanding trauma and abuse, coping strategies, impacts and healing, as well as a dedicated helpline for adult survivors of childhood trauma (1300 657 380). You can also explore recovery pathways and how Left Write Hook supports recovery.
Sources: Blue Knot Foundation (blueknot.org.au, complex trauma definition, coping strategies, impacts and healing, survivor self-care); Left Write Hook values and research (Our story, Research pages).