Treating Complex PTSD

"While the therapeutic relationship is very important, and an important substrate to the patient doing his or her work, in some ways we may have to be more like plumbers than like priests. And the task of the plumber is to unplug the toilet, not to have a warm relationship with the person whose toilet is plugged. And so maybe the task of the therapist is to provide the patient the skills that allow them to manage their lives." – Bessel van der Kolk

Bessel van der Kolk's article, "The Assessment and Treatment of Complex PTSD," discusses historical background, PTSD as a diagnostic construct, childhood trauma and complex PTSD, trauma and personality development, disorders of extreme stress (DESNOS), why we need DESNOS, treatment approaches to chronically traumatized individuals, phase oriented treatment, trauma and the body, symptom management, resource identification and installation, use of language and the creation of narratives, trauma processing, and conclusions.