What Is Complex Trauma and Why This Podcast Matters
Episode 105
Welcome to the Complex Trauma Podcast, formerly Reclaim You.
There are moments in healing when you realize it isn't about becoming someone new. It's about remembering who you've always been.
Welcome to the Complex Trauma Podcast, formerly Reclaim You. This podcast is about trauma, the body, and what it really takes to reclaim your life from all that you've been through.
Why the Shift to Complex Trauma
For over two years, we recorded Reclaim You with the Reclaim Therapy team. We talked about trauma healing, eating disorder recovery, and all the messy, beautiful work in between.
Now we're focusing intentionally on complex trauma. Not because other struggles don't matter, but because we kept seeing the same pattern: beneath the symptoms, trauma was always at the core.
How I Got Here
When I started my solo practice years ago, I wanted to offer what I couldn't find: real, embodied help for people struggling with eating disorders and body image. I was recovering from disordered eating and shame I couldn't name, and I couldn't find anyone doing work that saw me as suffering, not just "not sick enough."
I designed my practice around treating eating disorders. But after a few years, I started sensing there was more than symptom management happening.
Here's what's wild: when I went to grad school over 16 years ago, they didn't teach trauma work. So I learned on my own what was underneath these symptoms.
I got trained in EMDR and started learning about the nervous system. Then I became a mom, and everything shifted.
My oldest started showing delays and challenges. COVID hit when he wasn't even a year old. Things got really hard. That's when my desire to understand the body took real shape.
I started a group practice and told my first hire, Casey, that I wanted us to be trauma-focused, not just an eating disorder practice.
Then I had my daughter. My son eventually got diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Looking back, I don't know how I survived. For people with complex trauma, it can become the norm to just brace, hold on, and get through.
During that time, I was hyper-focused on getting my son support. This led me to train in somatic experiencing, which changed everything about how I practice and how I am in the world.
Understanding my son's dysregulation led me to face my own. That's when I started recognizing the complex trauma I carry and getting support through my own therapy.
Both my kids are deeply feeling, just like me. One of my missions is for them to grow up with a strong sense of self, able to feel their feelings and feel understood. Part of this is breaking cycles and re-parenting myself in ways I never knew I needed.
"It Wasn't That Bad"
For those of us who carry complex trauma, it's easy to say "it really wasn't that bad." I hear this constantly: "It wasn't as bad as this other person. I don't know why I am the way I am. I should be able to get over it."
I relate to that story.
Working with my therapist helped me make sense of why I am the way I am. If you've listened to the podcast, you know I've talked about people-pleasing, over-functioning, and clinging to hyper-independence. I talk about them because they've impacted me deeply, and so many people relate.
My process as a clinician and human has been humbling, beautiful, and messy. That's what brought me here.
What to Expect
The Complex Trauma Podcast explores what complex trauma really looks like, how it lives in our bodies, and how it impacts our relationships and patterns. We cover the science, the somatics, and the lived experience of healing.
You'll hear:
Solo episodes on what you're experiencing right now
Clinicians from Reclaim Therapy sharing their expertise
Leaders in the trauma field like Janina Fisher, Dr. Judith Herman, and Thomas Zimmerman
A space where you can feel less alone, heard, and understood
We're exploring community spaces, retreats, and training for therapists. We'll see where it goes.
Who This Is For
This is for cycle breakers. For people re-parenting themselves. For people who've been holding it together for everyone else because they don't know another way. For people who feel numb or dissociated.
There are really good reasons for the way you are in the world.
My hope is that every episode helps you feel a little more seen, a little more hopeful, and a lot less alone.
Welcome
If you've been here since Reclaim You, thank you for walking alongside us. Same heart, same mission, new name.
Ready to dive in? Subscribe to the Complex Trauma Podcast and join us for the next episode where we're exploring the difference between PTSD and CPTSD.
Work with our team: If you're in Pennsylvania and looking for trauma-informed therapists who specialize in complex trauma, connect with Reclaim Therapy.
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