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Does EMDR help with CPTSD?

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EMDR relies on targets to address, and those with complex trauma often have less linear memory and emotional targets that they can focus on.

This doesn't mean it's ineffective, it just means you need to determine if you have enough linear memories, emotions and experiences for the process to be beneficial to you and worth exploring. The good news is that what EMDR does, which is facilitate neurogenesis via bilateral stimulation, can also be accomplished in other ways. Like psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine && dextromethorphan.

Other therapies that are more specifically tailored for complex trauma include narrative exposure therapy, imaginal exposure therapy, play and relational modeling therapy (attachment-focused), somatic experiencing, existential/dialectical therapy (including DBT) && some aspects of CBT, particularly focusing on cognitive distortions and exposure-response prevention if you deal with lots of experiential or emotional intrusions.
 
the problem with complex ptsd is that it so often includes the behavioral misinformation of lousy parenting. i had to recognize and unlearn ALLOT bad habits before i was able to learn and adopt new ways of behaving. at 68, after nearly 50 years of intensive therapy, that enormous task is still a works in progress for me. in my own long, slow recovery, it has been my policy to work with what is available rather than holding out for the "perfect fit." i opine that the perfect fit would be rewriting my past, buttttaaa. . . again i remind myself to work with what is available.
 
Best way to figure out is to let a professional figure it out for you. Psychiatrist's diagnose, psychologists treat. So get diagnosed first. Along with that they should figure out what other stuff you have to deal with and the they will recommend which treatment should work best.

As for CPTSD, it is more resistant to treatment and takes longer to treat no matter what form of treatment you use. Complex means exactly what it says and it simply takes longer to fix a complex thing than a simple one.
 
Which other forms of therapy help for CPTSD?
The treatments for CPTSD are identical to those for treating PTSD.

(Which is the primary reason the DSM elected not to seperate them out as different disorders, although the ICD elected otherwise.)

Treating complex trauma (whether the person has PTSD or CPTSD, or another diagnosis entirely) is nearly always going to be more complicated / less effective than treating straightforward trauma.

The 4 Tier 1 treatments for PTSD are

- TF-CBT (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
- PE (Prolonged Exposure Therapy)
- SIT (Stress Inoculation Therapy)
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)

In addition to those, there are dozens of adjunct therapies, related therapies, specific tools/skills, that are often used together or to fill in gaps. (For example equine therapy, art therapy, anger management, DBT, talk therapy, straight up CBT, instead of trauma focused CBT, and others). Some are focused on the most debilitating symptoms, others meet differences in personality (for example, CBT & Sensory Somatic Experiencing therapy? Are identical except for the language used. Direct vs TouchyFeely. It’s actually kind of hilarious to line them up side by side. There are several therapy sub sets that “twin” like that, across countless disorders. Because they’re meeting vital personality differences / speaking directly to what a person can hear/understand.).

For a brief overview of the types of therapy most often used with PTSD/CPTSD? See below.

 
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