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Summary- Complex PTSD Pete Walker

This is a summary of the book Complex PTSD by Paul Walker
Course

Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1010 )

55 Documents
Students shared 55 documents in this course
Academic year: 2022/2023
Listed booksComplex PTSD:From Surviving to ThrivingThe Laws of Human NatureThe Anatomy of AnxietyThe Power of Now
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Metropolitan Community College, Nebraska

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This is a summary of the book Complex PTSD by Pete Walker

Insights from Chapter 1

 Pete Walker suffers from Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or CPTSD. CPTSD is not a genetic disease, but it is caused by your environment. The most common cause of CPTSD is an abusive household, and this affects 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys.  Emotional flashbacks are the most common side effect for patients who struggle with CPTSD. Unlike PTSD, there are no visual components to these flashbacks, but rather emotional ones. Men and women will regress to the feeling-states they had as an abused child, resulting in bouts of anxiety, depression, fear, and alienation.  One response to emotional flashbacks for CPTSD victims is passive suicidality. Passive suicidality differs from active suicidality as there are no active motions taken towards ending one’s life. Instead, passive suicidality can be defined by thinking of ways to end one’s life, or hoping that it will end soon. Often CPTSD will be misdiagnosed as, and reduced to, a “panic disorder.” While both result in overly heightened fight-or-flight responses for victims, panic disorder does not cover the vast range of problems CPTSD causes for survivors, nor does such a diagnosis help get at the root causes of the issue.  While the most common origins of CPTSD are prolonged periods of sexual or physical abuse as a child, prolonged emotional verbal abuse has been found to cause it as well. Parents using contempt or scorn to control their child can result in belittlement and loss of self-esteem.  A healthy household can handle isolated events of bullying in a child, if that child has someone to talk to and somewhere to feel safe. If those events continue to happen, and no help is available for the child, it can begin to manifest into CPTSD.  There are four common responses to trauma, also known as the four Fs: Fight (responding aggressively to a perceived threat), Flight (fleeing, or launching into a

state of manic activity), Freeze (disassociating and accepting inevitability of trauma), and Fawn (attempting to please an attacker to delay the threat).

Insights from Chapter 2

 Recovery from CPTSD is difficult and complex. Survivors will have experienced a diminishment in many characteristics normally found in a healthy human, such as self-acceptance, self-expression, self-care, peace of mind, ability to relax, and clear sense of identity.  Many survivors deal with what’s called imposter syndrome, where people will contradict any sort of positive feedback they receive under the belief that they don’t truly deserve it. This results in low levels of self-esteem.  The first step to healing the damage CPTSD has caused is fixing how we think about ourselves. This step is called cognitive healing, and works to rewire the negative thoughts we have about ourselves to more positive, healthy, and accurate ones.  It is very important for survivors to identify the causes of their CPTSD. Most often it is their abusive parents, which can be extremely difficult for some to identify or admit. But understanding how that trauma has affected them can help them know what to fix.  Emotional intelligence is successfully recognizing and managing our emotions, while also responding to others’ emotions in a healthy way. However, as a society we are often told to repress our emotions, resulting in low levels of emotional intelligence.  “Good enough parenting” is a term to describe parenting that allows a child’s emotional, physical, and psychological needs to be met. It is often used to dispel the idea of the “perfect parent,” which does not exist and is harmful for those that try to hold themselves to unrealistic expectations.  One of the greatest areas of struggle for CPTSD patients is with food. While many use food as a self-help tool during times of trauma, resulting in an over- dependence on it, others use food as something to obsessively control, hoping that perfecting their diet

 A benefit to undergoing CPTSD recovery is a much improved emotional intelligence. This can lead to greater independence, greater capacity for meaningful relationships, and a greater ability to handle painful experiences, even more so than the average person.

Insights from Chapter 5

 Denial and minimization of trauma strongly affects your ability to recover from childhood neglect and abuse. You need to “de-minimize,” or refuse to make light of the abuse you suffered from your parents.  Constant childhood abandonment can culminate in long-term negative effects later in life, both emotionally and physically. One of the most dangerous and common side effects of this need for parental care is addiction.  The way to heal emotional abandonment is exceptionally difficult for victims, as it involves being vulnerable. Victims often train themselves to prepare for the worst, as well as hide their shame, fear, and self-loathing as they have no one to turn to.  Emotional flashbacks, though painful, can give patients the evidence they need to deconstruct their denial and finally convince themselves how truly abhorrent their parents were, and how much pain their actions have caused.

Insights from Chapter 6

 Those who are traumatized as a child often develop an overdependence on one of the four F responses, which hampers their ability to relax or correctly assess any potentially dangerous situation.  Over-reliance on the Fight response can result in a need for power and control in order to remain safe. These people are often bullies, but they can be treated by explaining the damage their actions cause, and by redirecting their anger away from awful childhood experiences.

 Flight responders are often diagnosed with ADHD, and later on OCD, as they often use a constant state of busyness to distract themselves from their inner tur- moil. To address these issues, victims should learn to evaluate their true priorities, and attempt to occasionally pause and relax.  Freeze responders often self-isolate and avoid human interaction due to a sub- conscious belief that people are dangerous. This of course stems from their parents, but can result in dissociation from society and intimacy. Recovery involves overcoming the belief that self-isolation is beneficial, combined with therapeutic relationships.  Fawn responders are normally codependents, and forfeit their wants, needs, and wishes to others in the name of safety. This can be corrected by identifying what Fawn responders lose by over-listening to others, as well as deconstructing negative assumptions of what happens when they say no.

Insights from Chapter 7

Trauma-based codependency is induced by childhood neglect, abandonment, or abuse, and is normally seen in Fawn responders as they become adults. It is the in- ability to assert their own needs in their lives and relationships.  These Fawn responders are also prone to receiving abuse without complaint, as they are used to it and even believe they deserve it. They may also treat others’ needs above their own as an attempt to escape their own pain. This caretaking can at times become aggressive, even abusive.  For victims to reclaim their assertiveness, they must stop accepting others’ opinions or preferences above their own, and begin making their own choices. Imagining themselves confronting a current or past unfairness can be an effective exercise.  An important benchmark for Fawn responders to reach is to understand that others’ disapproval of them is not catastrophic, but is simply something out of their control.

these acts include hypochondria, negative focus on the world around you, and projecting past bullies onto new people.  Inner critics work to shame patients just like their parents did. These mental pat- terns of mimicking parents can be diminished, but it takes a lifetime of practice and hard work.  One effective strategy for silencing the inner critic is reawakening your Fight response. Telling your inner critic no, and setting boundaries for yourself away from untruthful self-criticism can help rebuild self-esteem and self-protection.  Eventually, when you are able to stop most of the negative thoughts about your- self, the end goal is to correct them into positive thoughts. Soon, your self critic will help you improve your life and behaviors instead of breaking you down. Insights from Chapter 10  There is both an inner critic and an outer critic. While the inner critic tells you that you are terrible, the outer instructs you that everyone else is awful and dangerous. This results in avoiding relationships due to fear and lack of trust.  A common trait for those struggling with an outer critic is passive- aggressiveness, which ultimately leads to patients isolating themselves and pushing others away. Because their parents let them down, they believe others are equally as unreliable.  Relationships are very tricky for these CPTSD patients. While they naturally push people away, whenever they do find someone suitable, they often try to control them to make them less dangerous.  Mindfulness, which is being aware of everything that is going on inside of us (our thoughts, emotions, and sensations), can help minimize our outer critic. When feelings of anger arise, try finding a safe outlet to release that emotion, or a good friend to simply vent to.

Insights from Chapter 11

 Effective grieving helps CPTSD patients regain the parts of themselves that they

lost during their childhood, such as their self-esteem and confidence. There are four main practices of grieving: angering, crying, verbal ventilating, and feeling.  Angering is the grieving technique of identifying and complaining about past injustices. It redirects the blame that was put onto patients as a child back onto their parents. Without it, patients risk accepting abuse as normal.  Crying is a therapeutic way to acknowledge your emotions and dissolve your inner critic. Accepting your tears is a form of self-compassion, and in turn, can hopefully form the basis of compassion for others.  Verbal ventilation is speaking or writing about your emotions and grievances, releasing pain in the process. This is a simple way of interpreting and communicating how you feel, which can lead to healthier responses to pain, such as connecting with others.  Feeling is the final grieving process, and does not involve any outward expression of emotions. It involves being aware of any inner pain or turmoil, remaining calm, and accepting it, bringing forth emotional balance in the process.

Insights from Chapter 12

 There exists a cycle of reactivity for CPTSD patients, where they commonly revert to their most basic 4F response after bouts of negative self-thought. This also works in reverse for recovering patients when they realize they have fallen back into their 4F response, and again launch into self-directed attacks. Mindfulness is the key to counteracting this cycle, as it recognizes these bouts of depression accurately and without judgment, but with acceptance. While doing so initially may bring about emotional flashbacks, with practice it is the most effective way to dissolve these cycles.

Insights from Chapter 13

 For many CPTSD patients, their therapists will be their first “safe” relationship, meaning built on trust and vulnerability. These sorts of relationships, either with professionals or with friends, are vital in helping CPTSD patients deal with their attachment disorders.  To develop these trust-guided relationships, there must be empathy from both

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Summary- Complex PTSD Pete Walker

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1010 )

55 Documents
Students shared 55 documents in this course

University: Metropolitan Community College, Nebraska

Was this document helpful?
This is a summary of the book Complex PTSD by Pete Walker
Insights from Chapter 1
Pete Walker suffers from Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or CPTSD.
CPTSD is not a genetic disease, but it is caused by your environment. The most
common cause of CPTSD is an abusive household, and this affects 1 in 3 girls and
1 in 5 boys.
Emotional flashbacks are the most common side effect for patients who struggle with CPTSD.
Unlike PTSD, there are no visual components to these flashbacks,
but rather emotional ones. Men and women will regress to the feeling-states they
had as an abused child, resulting in bouts of anxiety, depression, fear, and alienation.
One response to emotional flashbacks for CPTSD victims is passive suicidality.
Passive suicidality differs from active suicidality as there are no active motions
taken towards ending one’s life. Instead, passive suicidality can be defined by
thinking of ways to end one’s life, or hoping that it will end soon.
Often CPTSD will be misdiagnosed as, and reduced to, a “panic disorder.”
While both result in overly heightened fight-or-flight responses for victims, panic
disorder does not cover the vast range of problems CPTSD causes for survivors,
nor does such a diagnosis help get at the root causes of the issue.
While the most common origins of CPTSD are prolonged periods of sexual or
physical abuse as a child, prolonged emotional verbal abuse has been found to
cause it as well. Parents using contempt or scorn to control their child can result in
belittlement and loss of self-esteem.
A healthy household can handle isolated events of bullying in a child, if that
child has someone to talk to and somewhere to feel safe. If those events continue
to happen, and no help is available for the child, it can begin to manifest into
CPTSD.
There are four common responses to trauma, also known as the four Fs: Fight
(responding aggressively to a perceived threat), Flight (fleeing, or launching into a

Students also viewed

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