The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole (Healing Complex PTSD)

cPTSD is a great concept, and term, to describe the impact of developmental trauma. The latter is itself a pretty new term and description (at least to the public). These two terms are vital to help replace a vast number of unhelpful expressions that people grew/grow up with. The shame and isolation created by families and society have been aided by the lack of the right LANGUAGE. These two concepts/terms CUT RIGHT THROUGH so much uncertainty and doubt.This book is THE best overview of what causes cPTSD and the current ways to ameliorate its impacts that I have seen. I have bought a half-dozen copies (so far) to give to family members. An enormous number of people would benefit from realizing that yes, their childhood was traumatic, they come from dysfunctional families, they are not alone, and the healing professions have greatly advanced understanding of ways to heal in various ways during the last 30 years. Parents can fail their children in a variety of ways, with or without substance abuse. Healing comes from understanding WHAT happened to you and what can be done about it. Healing does not require blame, only understanding. You are not disloyal or <insert some other way families/society try to get you to not dig into understanding>.I felt it was a great discussion, but is not a workbook. The bright, clean layout of the material makes it very readable!!!! It's not just a wall of words. Somehow that alone sets this book apart from many other books.My healing journey (based on knowledge, not just ideas that came to my head over the decades) began before this book was published. There is a yellow workbook from a fellowship for children of dysfunctional caregivers (also sold here) which asked me the right questions to unlock the deep and undeniable realization that "Hey, this is ME!" and "Wow, I had suppressed those memories!" (or did not understand that those events were part of a larger whole).This book is not all you need, by a long shot. But it can be vital to opening the eyes of those who need it. Buy it, give it away freely, help the healing and growth begin.

I read this workbook alongside a client and we found it helpful for our work. It is clearly written with helpful exercises and reflections.

This book helped me so much. It’s a difficult task to handle these things alone, I would recommend that you also talk to a therapist around the same time you are doing this journal. There are short chapter readings before the writing prompts that are helpful but may be triggering. Take your time when going through this book. There were parts I had to skip and come back to later. It has been several years since I finished this book and I still use some of the things it taught me.

I love this book for the basics. I personally loved the 2nd phase because it teaches a good tool for facing and dealing with someone who might trigger a PTSD reaction or uncomfortable situation where we really do need to set a boundary and have a clear way for emotional regulation. I also loved how it defines resilience in phase 3. However what I didn't like is that it doesn't address tools for HSP like another book I've been listening to that can amplify triggers and need a balance of stimulation and relaxation. I feel like there can be even more advanced methods based on personality type and specific experiences such as "tricky families" that I learned from a social worker. There are 7 different family types that can contribute to cptsd . I'm hoping they make an updated version to accommodate personality types and different experiences contributing to cptsd. But its perfect for the basics and those who are not familiar with psychology and therapy, with the work they can do on their own.

The media could not be loaded. This workbook is simple, easy to read and very useful. It's a tool I've used to help me as heal from PTSD & Cptsd. Knowledge is power. The book does a great job of explaining something then provides an opportunity to apply the knowledge to my own life . I've been learning a lot.