My article What is Complex Trauma? was published in December 2020 in the first issue of Perspectives on Complex Trauma, the journal of the Complex Trauma Institute.
It describes complex trauma as a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system, specifically the body’s fear system, which is activated by major threat, but then fails to switch off afterwards, because there is no place of safety.
I think it represents my clearest attempt so far to explain my theory that depression is our experience of the metabolic collapse triggered by the dorsal vagus branch of the parasympathetic nervous system, when the regulation provided by the ventral vagus is weakened.
I would welcome feedback on these ideas and suggestions as to further relevant research.
My second article What is Complex Trauma? Part 2 Working with the Body was published in September 2021. My intention is that this is the first of several articles reflecting on the practical implications for therapists of this theoretical understanding of complex trauma.
My third article What is Complex Trauma? Part3: Reflections on Complexity will be published shortly in Perspectives on Trauma. I will include a download of the PDF once it is published.