Trauma Training
Complex PTSD Training for Therapists
Dissociation, Phase-Oriented Treatment, and Culturally Responsive Care
Trainer: Crystal Wildes
On-Demand: Available with lifetime access for asynchronous learning. This course was recorded on April 18-19th, 2024.
Complex PTSD is not a more severe version of PTSD. It is a distinct clinical presentation with its own diagnostic criteria, its own neurobiological fingerprint, and its own treatment demands. And yet most therapists come out of graduate school with PTSD training that was never designed for the clients sitting across from them.
Complex PTSD Training for Therapists is a two-day, 8-CE on-demand course with Dr. Crystal Wildes, licensed clinical psychologist and TTI senior faculty member, designed for mental health professionals who want a comprehensive, research-grounded framework for understanding and treating C-PTSD. You will move through the neurobiology of complex trauma, the spectrum of dissociation, phase-oriented treatment, evidence-based and integrative approaches, cultural humility in trauma care, and Trauma Stewardship for the clinician.
No prerequisites required. Designed for therapists, and open to any helping professional who regularly works alongside people affected by chronic or complex trauma.
Practical Interventions You'll Learn
This two-day training covers the full clinical landscape of Complex PTSD, from foundational neuroscience through practical treatment considerations. Each module integrates the latest trauma research with direct application to your clinical work.
In this Complex PTSD training, you'll learn how to:
- Distinguish C-PTSD from PTSD clinically, including the core features, symptoms, and diagnostic nuances that distinguish complex trauma presentations from standard PTSD, and how comorbidities complicate assessment
- Apply the neurobiology of complex trauma to your clinical thinking, including how chronic interpersonal trauma affects brain development, the autonomic nervous system, and clients' capacity for cognition, emotion regulation, and memory
- Understand dissociation as an adaptive process, assess for it across its full spectrum, and develop practical strategies for managing and working with dissociation in session
- Examine etiology and risk factors including the role of childhood trauma, attachment disruption, developmental impact, and cultural influences in shaping C-PTSD presentations
- Implement phase-oriented treatment for complex trauma across all three stages: stabilization and safety, processing and mourning, and meaning-making and reconnection
- Practice cultural humility in assessment and treatment, including how to recognize and address bias and create inclusive therapeutic spaces for clients with C-PTSD
Build your Trauma Stewardship practice by recognizing compassion fatigue and burnout in yourself, understanding vicarious resilience, and developing sustainable self-care strategies
What You'll Learn
This training gives you a comprehensive clinical framework for understanding, assessing, and treating Complex PTSD across diverse client populations.
By the end of this training, you will be able to:
- Distinguish between PTSD and Complex PTSD, including the specific diagnostic criteria, core features, and symptom profile of C-PTSD and how to navigate common comorbidities in assessment
- Integrate knowledge of the neurobiological underpinnings of complex trauma into clinical practice, including how chronic trauma affects the nervous system, memory, and emotional regulation
- Evaluate the adaptive nature of the dissociation spectrum as it relates to C-PTSD, and apply validated strategies for assessing and working with dissociation
- Demonstrate cultural humility by understanding how cultural factors shape the experience and expression of complex trauma, and apply this to assessment and treatment
- Apply trauma-informed care principles and phase-oriented treatment across the three stages of C-PTSD treatment
- Integrate evidence-based and complementary therapeutic approaches for clients presenting with Complex PTSD
Plan sustainable self-care strategies through an honest appraisal of compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout risk in trauma-focused clinical work.
Who is this course for?
This course was designed for mental health therapists and is open to any helping professional who regularly works with people affected by chronic or complex trauma. No prerequisites are required.
Complex PTSD Training for Therapists is a strong fit if you are:
- A therapist whose caseload includes clients with chronic interpersonal trauma, childhood adversity, or complex presentations that go beyond standard PTSD treatment frameworks
- Noticing that evidence-based PTSD treatments are not producing the outcomes you expected, and looking for a deeper clinical framework that accounts for complexity
- Wanting a course that integrates neurobiology, dissociation, cultural humility, and clinician self-care into a single, cohesive training rather than treating them as separate topics
- Preparing to pursue specialized trauma training (including EMDR) and wanting a solid C-PTSD foundation first
- Working in a setting where compassion fatigue and burnout are real risks, and wanting concrete Trauma Stewardship strategies built into your CE
- Seeking NBCC or ASWB/ACE continuing education in complex trauma in a comprehensive on-demand format with 8 CEs
About Your Trainer, Crystal Wildes, PsyD, LP
Dr. Crystal Wildes is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 20 years of experience in clinical work, training, and supervision across a range of settings. She is a senior faculty member and trainer at Trauma Therapist Institute and an expert EMDR clinician.
Crystal specializes in complex trauma and EMDR therapy, and has worked with individuals and families across the lifespan, including adjudicated youth, at-risk teens, families involved with social services, and crime victims. She brings over two decades of clinical experience to her teaching, grounded in a commitment to compassionate, evidence-based, and culturally responsive trauma care.
As a trainer, Crystal is known for her authentic, direct facilitation style and her commitment to equipping clinicians with the practical tools and frameworks they need to work confidently with complex trauma presentations
Additional Information
Agenda
Learning Objectives
Prerequisites
Continuing Education
Course Completion
Cancellation Policy
Free resource from Crystal Wildes
Grab your ‘Recipe’ for working with Dorsal Dissociation from our TTI faculty member, Crystal Wildes!
