Healing from Complex Trauma: Finding Growth After CPTSD
When growth and wisdom emerge from pain.
Post-traumatic growth is the quiet, steady transformation that begins when your nervous system begins to feel safe enough to rest, connect, and imagine something new.
In this article, we’ll explore what research says about post-traumatic growth in people with CPTSD, how healing over time shows up in real life, what it feels like, and how therapy can help you move from coping to to engaging more fully in your life and relationships.
Healing from complex trauma takes time, tenderness, and support. For those living with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), recovery often means untangling years of emotional pain, self-protection, and survival strategies. CPTSD typically develops after chronic or repeated trauma, especially in relationships where safety and trust were compromised (Cloitre et al., 2014).
Research shows that growth can occur alongside distress. This process, known as post-traumatic growth (PTG), refers to positive psychological change that emerges through the process of facing trauma (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). For someone with CPTSD, growth may not be dramatic or sudden. It may look like quieter changes: a softer inner voice, a new ability to stay grounded in conflict, or a renewed sense of curiosity about life.
1. Emotional Regulation + Inner Soothing
“Emotions are not problems to be solved, but waves to be felt.”
Many people with CPTSD describe feeling ruled by their emotions. Early trauma can disrupt the nervous system’s ability to stay within a balanced range, leading to cycles of anxiety, overwhelm, or shutdown (Ogden et al., 2006). One of the earliest signs of healing is the capacity to stay grounded and self-soothe, even when strong emotions arise.
Emotional regulation doesn’t mean never feeling upset. It means being able to experience emotion without being swept away. For example, someone might notice that after an argument, they can pause and breathe instead of falling into panic or shame. Over time, these moments of self-regulation restore a sense of safety in the body and mind.This growth reflects the nervous system’s ability to trust safety again, signaling that the body no longer lives in constant threat.
2. Reclaiming Self-Compassion + Worth
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.”
Complex trauma often leaves survivors with deep feelings of shame or unworthiness. Many learn early on to suppress their needs or perform for acceptance. Healing involves reclaiming self-worth and learning to treat oneself with gentleness rather than criticism (Neff & Germer, 2013). In therapy, this may look like noticing the inner critic and responding with warmth instead of judgment. Someone might begin to think, “I understand why I feel this way,” rather than, “What’s wrong with me?” This subtle change marks a profound shift in the nervous system from self-blame to self-support. Research has shown that self-compassion practices can reduce PTSD symptoms and support emotion regulation (Kearney et al., 2013). Over time, clients often describe feeling more at home within themselves, which is a relationship that becomes the foundation for further growth.
3. Building Healthier, More Secure Relationships
Because CPTSD often originates in relational trauma, healing unfolds most deeply through new, safe relationships. Protective patterns like people-pleasing or emotional withdrawal were once necessary for survival, but they can make connection difficult. Post-traumatic growth can appear as a newfound ability to trust, communicate, and stay present in relationships (Cloitre et al., 2014). For example, someone may begin to express needs openly, tolerate vulnerability, or set boundaries without guilt. Over time, they start to sense that closeness can coexist with safety. This shift toward secure attachment is a powerful sign of growth. In trauma-informed therapy, this often happens through moments of co-regulation and emotional attunement. The nervous system learns that connection can be safe and sustaining, not threatening.
4. Discovering Personal Strength + Resilience
“After all this time, the sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that - it lights the whole sky.”
Survivors of complex trauma often underestimate their own resilience. Many have endured years of adversity while adapting in remarkable ways. Post-traumatic growth involves recognizing this inner strength as a resource for living, not just surviving (Joseph & Linley, 2006). Someone might notice that stressful situations no longer feel unmanageable, or that they can speak up for themselves more easily. Recognizing personal strength allows a person to approach life with greater confidence and curiosity. Research suggests that acknowledging one’s capacity for resilience supports long-term well-being and meaning-making (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). This awareness brings gratitude and self-respect, reinforcing the truth that healing is an act of courage.
5. Making Meaning + Redefining Purpose
Trauma can fragment identity and meaning. Healing often begins when survivors start to make sense of their experiences, integrating them into a new, more coherent story (Park, 2010). This process of meaning-making allows people to reorient toward values, creativity, and connection. For some, this looks like discovering new forms of self-expression or contributing to their community. Others may find purpose through spirituality or mindfulness. These shifts do not erase what happened; rather, they create space for growth and self-definition beyond the trauma. Meaning-making brings integration: a sense that life, though changed, can still be full, connected, and deeply human.
Supporting Your Growth Through Therapy
Post-traumatic growth is not a destination. It unfolds gradually as safety, self-trust, and connection deepen. Therapeutic approaches such as Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Trauma-Focused CBT, and emotionally focused therapy support this process by creating safety for new emotional experiences (Fosha, 2009).
At Amanda Neves Therapy, we specialize in helping adults heal from attachment trauma, complicated family dynamics, and emotional dysregulation. Our work focuses on helping clients build inner safety, deepen emotional resilience, and reconnect with authentic joy and connection. If you’re noticing signs of growth (or wanting to begin that process) we can help you take the next steps toward healing that lasts. Fill out this therapist matching form to begin the next stage of your healing journey.
References
Cloitre, M., Garvert, D. W., Weiss, B., Carlson, E. B., & Bryant, R. A. (2014). Predicting treatment outcome in posttraumatic stress disorder: The role of emotion regulation and dissociation. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 27(3), 277–285.
Fosha, D. (2009). Emotion and recognition at work: Energy, vitality, pleasure, truth, desire, and the emergent phenomenology of transformational experience. In D. Fosha, D. J. Siegel, & M. F. Solomon (Eds.), The healing power of emotion: Affective neuroscience, development, and clinical practice (pp. 172–203). W. W. Norton & Company.
Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2006). Growth following adversity: Theoretical perspectives and implications for clinical practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(8), 1041–1053.
Kearney, D. J., Malte, C. A., McManus, C., Martinez, M. E., Felleman, B., & Simpson, T. L. (2013). Loving-kindness meditation for posttraumatic stress disorder: A pilot study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(4), 426–434.
Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2013). A pilot study and randomized controlled trial of the mindful self-compassion program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 28–44.
Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. W. W. Norton & Company.
Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning-making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136(2), 257–301.
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18.