The Complex Trauma Podcast

Maybe you barely remember your childhood. Maybe you've done years of trauma work, you're finally feeling better, and now you're wondering, was it really that bad? Did I make it all up?
This episode is about trauma, memory, and self-trust. 
Why memory isn't a recording, why gaps and fragments don't prove or disprove anything, why healing itself can create distance from a memory, and why I don't remember doesn't have to become I can't trust myself.
You don't have to make yourself hurt again to prove that you once hurt 🧡.

Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast!
Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw 
Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw
Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER.
The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

This week's episode is  a little different. Instead of something super polished, I'm giving you the real time version of my own messy middle. What dysregulation actually feels like in my body right now, why regulation isn't the absence of activation, and what's actually helping me stay steady in a hard season of my life, from a walk around the block to finally asking for help.
If you're a complex trauma survivor in your own hard season, this one's for you. It's okay to lower a standard, ask for the help, and let the tears come if they want to come.
Grab the free Dysregulation Toolkit, an interactive tool with real techniques for whatever you're feeling in the moment here
If you haven't listened to the episode about why nervous system regulation can feel impossible with CPTSD, tune in here. 
Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast!
Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw 
Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw
Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER.
The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

Why does connection feel so hard after complex trauma?
You want closeness, but when someone gets too close, you pull away.
You want support, but "I'm fine" comes out before you've even thought about it.
You want to trust people, yet asking for help, receiving kindness, or staying present during conflict can feel surprisingly difficult.
If you've ever wondered why relationships feel so complicated after childhood trauma or emotional neglect, this episode is for you.
Today, we're exploring how your earliest relationships taught your nervous system what to expect from connection and why those expectations can continue shaping your adult relationships long after childhood is over.
Rather than focusing on attachment styles we'll look at the relational experiences that teach us whether it's safe to have needs, depend on others, receive care, repair after conflict, and be fully ourselves in relationship.
We'll also talk about:
 Why receiving help can feel uncomfortable 
 Hyper-independence and why depending on others feels so risky 
 Why conflict can feel like the end of the relationship 
 People-pleasing and the fear of authenticity 
 The difference between managing relationships and actually experiencing them 
 Why you can still love people who hurt you 
 The difference between love and emotional capacity 
 Grieving the relationship you needed but may never have 
 How healing happens through new relational experiences 
If you've ever felt like your nervous system wants connection while another part of you is pulling away, I hope this episode helps you understand why.
Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast!
Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw 
Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw
Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER.
The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

What is the real impact of growing up with emotionally immature parents? Dr. Lindsay Gibson, author of the bestselling Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, joins the show to explain what it costs a child over decades, and how to parent differently.
In this conversation, we get into:
What actually makes a parent emotionally immature
Why the love can be real and the harm can be real at the same time
What this can cost a child over years, including a shaken sense of trust in their own perception of reality
What a healthy relationship with an emotionally immature parent can look like in adulthood
The fear so many carry, that we'll become our parents, and why Lindsay says that fear itself might be a good sign
The four essential jobs of parenting: protection, nurturance, guidance, and limits
Her seven parental mindsets for maturity, and the chapter she calls The Absolutes
Dr. Gibson's new book, How to Raise an Emotionally Mature Child, is out now. Order a copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble
Find her at lindsaycgibson.com and on Instagram @dr.lindsaygibson.
Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast!
Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw 
Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw
Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER.
The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.

If you've ever caught yourself wondering who you actually are underneath the anxiety, the people pleasing, or the version of you that shows up to keep everyone else comfortable, this episode is for you.
I break down what a sense of self actually is, why complex trauma gets in the way of building one, and what it looks like to start forming it now, as an adult. That means looking at three capacities trauma tends to disrupt: knowing yourself, expressing yourself, and experiencing yourself, and a few grounded, body-based ways to start reconnecting with each one.
In this episode:
What a sense of self actually is, and why it's built through experience, not something you're born with fully formed
Why survival responses like fight, flight, freeze, or fawning aren't fixed personality traits, they're predictions your nervous system learned to keep you safe
The three capacities complex trauma most often disrupts: knowing yourself, expressing yourself, and experiencing yourself
Why healing this is often less about finding yourself and more about forming yourself
Thanks for listening to The Complex Trauma Podcast!
Be sure to follow, share and give us a review on your favorite podcast platform.
Follow on Instagram: @sarahherstichlcsw 
Follow on TikTok: @sarahherstichlcsw
Learn more about EMDR & trauma therapy in Pennsylvania with Reclaim Therapy
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or nutritional advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Remember, I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. Nothing in this podcast is meant to replace actual therapy or treatment. If you're in crisis or things feel really unsafe right now, please reach out to someone. You can call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, text them, or head to your nearest ER.
The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organizations or institutions. Reliance on any information provided by this podcast is solely at your own risk.