The Difference Between Trauma and Complex Trauma

By:  Shari Kim, Ph.D

EMDRIA Consultant 

There is no official diagnosis for Complex PTSD, so it is easy for us to become confused about the nature of complex trauma. Social media provides us with conflicting and often erroneous information about diagnoses surrounding trauma, making us even more confused. Hopefully this information will help make things clear.

Complex trauma is defined as a series of traumatic events compiling onto one another.  For example, people who undergo repeated physical abuse or domestic violence over a period of years have experienced complex trauma. We call it complex trauma, because the initial traumatic event (e.g. the first experience of physical abuse) gets complicated by subsequent traumatic events; those events that follow cause additional trauma AND trigger the initial trauma at the same time. If we think of complex trauma in those terms, then, we can also understand that it does not have to be a series of events from the same abuser. Complex trauma can involve any series of events that cause trauma in their own right AND trigger previous trauma at the same time. It differs from other types of trauma caused by a single event, because that single event is still causing trauma but NOT triggering other trauma.

The other thing that makes complex trauma unique is that it does not always look like PTSD; the symptoms someone with complex trauma has may look more like Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder. Sometimes people with complex trauma do not meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD at all. This concept makes sense, because the repeated trauma experienced by people with complex trauma leads to such hopelessness and despair that the depressive symptoms become much more prominent than other symptoms typical of PTSD. It is a bit like being knocked down with a hammer every time they try to get up; eventually they stop trying to get up and just lie down.

The difference between trauma and complex trauma truly illustrates the complexity of working with trauma survivors. Diagnosis is not nearly as important as a person’s experience, and, as clinicians, we must meet our clients wherever they are in that journey.

Want to learn more about Complex Trauma? Check out our training: A Closer Look at Complex Trauma and Dissociation.