Have you heard of complex childhood trauma? It is insidious and lingers in the body and mind.

Hello and welcome back to savvy psychologist.

I'm Dr. Jade Wu and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges

with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment. Today let's shed some light on this

misunderstood condition that is complex trauma. So when you think of your

childhood, what comes to mind?

It might be lovely things like ice cream running down your chin, giggling and running through a water fountain,

sledding with your siblings, or having hot chocolate, while snuggling on the sofa with mom and dad.

Or you may be among the many people who didn't have these lovely childhood memories,

or who have darker memories that crowd out these good ones.

Most of us can recognize trauma in general.

When we think of trauma, we often think of momentous life-changing events.

We think of horrific instances of sexual assaults, car accidents, natural disaster, and war. Events that divide a person's life into before and after.

These are the experiences that victims can't help but replay and flashbacks and nightmares.

Now what we don't think or talk too much about is something called complex trauma.

Complex trauma is an insidious, slow-burn type of childhood experience that affects a person just as

profoundly. These traumas are harder to pinpoint, describe, and remember. They might appear as snapshots from childhood like waiting late into the night for an often absent parent to come home.

They could appear as a general feeling of distrust or detachment. That feeling can

sneak up into a person's adult relationships, even when those relationships are with

people who are not abusive.

Complex trauma is not always about what happened to a person.

It's also about what did not happen.

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