Therapy for Complex PTSD and Childhood Trauma in Horsham, PA
You’ve survived this long. You don’t need to keep white knuckling through it.
For a long time, you’ve felt misunderstood.
By therapists. By family. By friends.
Sometimes you wonder if you even understand yourself.
But, what you do know is that the overwhelm, guilt and shame that you experience on the regular is real.
So very real.
We’re so glad that you’re here.
Over the years you’ve survived, alongside your pain, the very best you could.
And, we want you to know… you deserve to be here. You deserve healing.
Our complex PTSD therapists in Horsham, PA are here for exactly that.
We specialize in therapy for complex PTSD and childhood trauma using EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Internal Family Systems. In person at our Horsham office, and online throughout Pennsylvania.
What is Complex PTSD?
Complex PTSD (CPTSD) is a form of trauma that develops from repeated or prolonged experiences of harm, often in relationships where there was no safe way to escape. It commonly includes symptoms like emotional dysregulation, relationship difficulties, negative self-beliefs, and nervous system dysregulation.
Complex PTSD can be caused by:
Prolonged domestic violence
Abuse, sexual abuse and/or neglect as a child
Being separated from your parent(s)
Having parents with narcissistic or borderline traits
Feeling chronically misunderstood, rejected, discounted or shamed
Receiving threats of violence
Exposure to substance misuse
Medical neglect
Resource insecurity (food, shelter, clothing)
Exposure to community violence
Prolonged captivity
Chronic discrimination
Genocide
Experiencing narcissistic abuse
Symptoms of Complex PTSD in Adults
Complex PTSD and PTSD share some symptoms, but CPTSD tends to run deeper and show up in many more areas of your life.
From your relationships, to your body, your sense of self and your ability to feel safe anywhere.
Complex PTSD is associated with a longer duration and much higher intensity of traumatic stress, folks with CPTSD may experience more symptoms than folks with PTSD.
What are the 17 Symptoms of Complex PTSD?
Reexperiencing symptoms
Flashbacks of images, overwhelming emotions (feeling memories), or disturbing sensations
Nightmares, thinking about traumatic events at inconvenient times, and feeling triggered and overwhelmed
Avoidance Symptoms
Staying away from people or places that remind you of traumatic events and isolating yourself
Relying on alcohol, substances or food behaviors to numb from pain
Spending time caring for others, but ignoring yourself
Overworking to distract from feeling and being highly critical of yourself for lack of perfection
Persistent Perceptions of Current Threat
Being hyperaware and startling easy
Expectation of the worst happening and high sensitivity to other people’s non-verbal body language
Affect Dysregulation
Hopelessness, depression, anxiety and panic
Frequent feelings of anger and irritability
Suicidal ideation and/or urges to harm yourself
Negative Self Concept
Feeling like a failure, that you’re ineffective or powerless
Feelings of shame, unworthiness and guilt
Feeling as though there is something wrong with you, that you’re damaged or that you have little control over your life.
Interpersonal Disturbances
Feeling disconnected from people, or that you don’t belong
Feeling afraid that you’ll be left or abandoned
Having a hard time knowing who and how to trust
Dissociative Symptoms
Times when people, objects and the world feels unreal
Having difficulty remembering large portions of your life
Difficulty paying attention, or finding yourself staring into space/daydreaming for long periods of time
Therapy for Childhood Trauma with a Complex Trauma Therapist in Horsham, PA Can Help You Heal From Your Past
At Reclaim Therapy we define trauma as anything that is too much too soon, too much for too long, or too little for too long, especially when in the absence of an attuned relationship.
When exploring trauma, we give specific attention to what physical, emotional, or psychological needs did not get met and experiences that involved a physical, emotional, or psychological act that did happened.
Many people who have experienced childhood trauma get misdiagnosed throughout their lives because the intricate and nuanced presentation of CPTSD.
The lack of understanding and education about complex PTSD often perpetuates and deepens the suffering of folks who have experienced ongoing childhood trauma. If that is you, we understand if you’re feeling frustrated, hopeless and misunderstood.
If you experienced childhood trauma, our complex trauma therapists want you to know that we get it.
And, you are deserving of healing.
How We Approach Complex PTSD Therapy at Reclaim Therapy
We don't rush this work.
Healing from complex PTSD isn't linear and it doesn't follow a protocol on a timeline. What it does follow is your nervous system.
Where it's at, what it needs, and what it's ready for.
Our approach is informed by current research in neuroscience and polyvagal theory, and we work in three phases. Not because trauma recovery fits neatly into boxes, but because your nervous system needs a foundation before it can do the deeper work.
This typically looks like
Phase one:
This is the most important phase and honestly, for a lot of people healing from complex PTSD and childhood trauma, it's where we spend the most time. Before we touch traumatic memories, we build trust. We build resources. We help your nervous system learn that this relationship, this therapy room, is actually safe enough. That's not a small thing. For many of our clients it's the first time they've experienced that.
Phase two:
When you're ready, and we mean actually ready, not because a certain amount of time has passed, we move into directly working with traumatic memories.
This is where EMDR, somatic work, and parts work do their deepest healing. We process what got stuck, help your nervous system complete what it couldn't back then, and start to shift the beliefs about yourself that trauma created.
Phase three:
This is where the work becomes your life. We focus on helping you sustain a stronger sense of self, build relationships that feel safer, and actually live in the present instead of just surviving it. This phase is quieter but it's where people start to feel like themselves again, sometimes for the first time.
How We Treat Complex PTSD
There's no one-size-fits-all approach to healing from complex trauma.
What we use depends on you, your nervous system, and what you're ready for. These are the modalities that form the backbone of our work.
EMDR for CPTSD
EMDR is one of the most researched and effective treatments for trauma that exists. But when it comes to complex PTSD, how you do EMDR matters as much as whether you do it. We go slow. We build safety first. We don't push your nervous system before it's ready.
When the time is right, EMDR helps your brain finally finish processing the memories that got stuck, not by retelling every painful detail, but by allowing your nervous system to complete what it couldn't back then. Most of our clients describe it as things finally feeling like they happened in the past, instead of still happening right now.
Somatic Therapy
Trauma doesn't just live in your memories. It lives in your body. In the tension you carry in your shoulders, the way your chest tightens when someone raises their voice, the freeze response that kicks in before you even know what's happening.
Somatic work helps you slow down and actually notice what's happening in your body, not to analyze it, but to help your nervous system complete the survival responses it never got to finish. This is bottom-up healing. It works even when words don't.
Internal Family Systems (parts work)
If you've ever felt like part of you wants to heal and another part is terrified to, you already understand why parts work matters.
IFS helps you get to know the different parts of yourself that developed during chronic stress and trauma — the protectors, the critics, the parts that learned to shut everything down just to get through the day. The goal isn't to get rid of these parts. It's to understand them, build trust with them, and help the ones that are still stuck in the past finally get some relief.
As counselors for Complex PTSD, we value using trauma informed, body based therapeutic modalities to support the healing of traumatic childhood experiences.
Together, these three approaches work on trauma from every angle. Your memories, your body, and your sense of self.
Meet Reclaim’s Complex PTSD Therapists in Horsham, PA
Sarah Herstich
Casey Koch
Laura Gordon
Emily Cinque
Bayley Saffier
Ashley Fox
Erin Witmer
We're not another directory of generalist therapists.
Every therapist on our team specializes in complex trauma and childhood trauma, and every one of them has advanced training in at least one of the modalities we just described.
We're also humans first. We laugh with our clients. We swear sometimes (maybe more). We believe the therapeutic relationship isn't just part of the healing. For people with complex PTSD, it often IS the healing.
Our team sees clients in person at our Horsham, PA office and online throughout Pennsylvania.
Ready to Start Complex PTSD Therapy in Horsham, PA?
You are not broken.
What happened to you was too much and it wasn't your fault. And the ways you learned to cope…. the hypervigilance, the people pleasing, the shutting down, those weren't failures. They were survival.
You don't have to keep surviving alone.
Our team of complex trauma therapists in Horsham, PA is here to offer you something that might feel unfamiliar at first; a relationship that's actually safe.
One where you get to move at your pace, where all of you is welcome, and where healing isn't just a possibility, it's something we believe in deeply for you.
We see clients in person at our Horsham office and online throughout Pennsylvania.
Ready to Get Started? Here’s How!
step 1
Schedule your free consultation call with Sarah Below!
step 2
Meet with one of our Complex PTSD Therapists!
step 3
Start your healing journey. You and your therapist will build a foundation of safety and trust, moving into reprocessing your trauma as you’re ready.
Here at Reclaim Therapy we specialize in providing trauma informed therapy for CPTSD and childhood trauma in Horsham, PA.
We also provide EMDR therapy and therapy for PTSD in Pennsylvania.
We’re prepared to help you reclaim your life from the impact of complex trauma
One that is spacious, honoring of all parts of you and free from the symptoms that have caused you suffering for so long.
We want you to know that this is brave work.
And, we’d be honored to see you through it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Complex PTSD Therapy in Horsham, PA
What is the difference between PTSD and complex PTSD? PTSD typically develops after a single traumatic event. Complex PTSD develops from repeated or prolonged trauma, usually over months or years, often in childhood and often involving someone you depended on or trusted. CPTSD tends to go deeper than PTSD, showing up not just in flashbacks and hypervigilance but in how you see yourself, how you relate to others, and how safe you feel in your own body.
Can complex PTSD be healed? Yes. It takes time and the right support, but healing from complex PTSD is absolutely possible. At Reclaim Therapy we see it happen every day. It isn't about erasing what happened, it's about helping your nervous system finally feel safe enough to live in the present instead of the past.
How long does therapy for complex PTSD take? There's no honest one-size-fits-all answer here. Complex PTSD developed over years, and healing it is rarely a quick process. Many of our clients spend significant time in the early stabilization phase before moving into trauma processing, and that's exactly how it should be. We never rush it. What we can tell you is that people make real, meaningful progress, and most describe feeling different in ways they didn't think were possible.
How do I know if I have complex PTSD? Complex PTSD is often misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, or ADHD because the symptoms overlap. If you've spent years in therapy or on medication without things fundamentally shifting, if you feel like something is wrong with you but can't name it, if relationships feel consistently unsafe or overwhelming, those are worth exploring with a trauma specialist. We offer free consultations to help you figure out if complex PTSD fits what you're experiencing.
What kind of therapy works best for complex PTSD? Research supports trauma-focused approaches, and at Reclaim Therapy we use a combination of EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, and Internal Family Systems. We use all three because complex PTSD lives in your memories, your body, and your sense of self, and healing it requires working on all three levels. We also use a phased approach, building safety before processing traumatic memories.
Do I have to remember my childhood to heal from complex PTSD? No. A lot of people with complex PTSD have gaps in their memory or can't access clear narrative memories of what happened. EMDR and somatic work can start with body sensations, emotions, and beliefs rather than specific memories. You don't need a complete story to heal.
How do I get started with complex PTSD therapy at Reclaim Therapy? The first step is a free 15 minute consultation. We'll talk about what you're carrying, answer your questions, and figure out together whether Reclaim Therapy is the right fit. We see clients in person at our Horsham, PA office and online throughout Pennsylvania.