David W. Zierk, PsyD

Long ago and nearly forgotten, but always remembered.

Special Note: Diagnoses are abstractions or summaries: sometimes helpful, always incomplete. Neurobiology is a continuum; it follows that complex trauma is, too.

Growing up, children deserve to be safe and protected from the worst things possible. The young and impressionable mind is naturally scared of what’s possible - monsters hiding in the closet, ghosts under the bed, or the moonlight shining brightly and casting a shadow on the bedroom wall that looks too much like the meanest and scariest dragon ever.

In this way, fear is the most primal emotion that motivates you to act if you can. When confronted by something that triggers fear, your body is flooded by a rush of chemicals that activate the fight-or-flight instinct. When activated, the only thing that matters is surviving.

When the worst thing possible happens in the child’s home or safe haven, and the child cannot escape and is forced to endure the unimaginable, this is trauma. When the trauma is repeated or prolonged, involves harm by a caregiver or person in a trusting position, and occurs during the vulnerable phases of child development, this is complex psychological trauma.

The impact of such horrendous circumstances disturbs the child’s psychobiological and socio-emotional development. The child loses their sense of safety, they feel profoundly alone, and they know biologically what happened is wrong, but they can’t find the words to understand, let alone share, their worst fear that happened to them.

Complex trauma requires specialized nurturing care to facilitate finding a pathway back to feeling safe, supported, and worthy. Because complex trauma happens during the time the child is fragile and cognitively unsophisticated, their emerging self is compromised. The child struggles with self-definition, self-regulation, and fundamental attachment security.

Too often, the events that created the complex trauma go undetected for years. The child may become quieter than usual and show signs of depression, such as being more withdrawn, less interested in engaging in activities, having increased nightmares or night terrors, showing increased moodiness and lowered energy, and saying they are not interested in eating even their favorite foods.

These signs of the child struggling internally are usually looked at on the surface because no one ever suspects the child is experiencing or has undergone experiences that no person, indeed not a child, should ever be exposed to. The stories of complex trauma, quite sadly, frequently remain hidden and are told only when the child moves into their adult years and, once again, is confronted by something that triggers their sense of feeling unsafe, and they react intensely and disproportionately to the event. In adulthood, the child within finds the courage to speak out about what happened to them. However, sharing and seeing the words is hard, even as an adult. Why? Because trauma is complex.

Press the button below to learn more about how your mind works as described in Dr. Zierk’s book, Mind Rules: Who’s in Control, You or Your Mind?