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Healing C-PTSD in San Diego: When the Trauma Wasn't "Just One Event"

  • Writer: Brian Festa
    Brian Festa
  • 18 hours ago
  • 3 min read

Introduction: The Invisible Wound

You flinch when a door slams. You feel a wave of paralyzing shame when your boss gives you mild feedback. You constantly feel like you are "waiting for the other shoe to drop," even when life is good.


But when you try to figure out why, you come up blank. You didn’t go to war. You weren’t in a horrific accident. You might even tell yourself, "My childhood wasn't that bad. I had food and a roof over my head."


This is the hallmark of Complex PTSD (C-PTSD).


Unlike standard PTSD, which is like a single lightning strike, C-PTSD is like living in a constant drizzle of rain for 18 years. It is the result of chronic, repeated stress—usually emotional neglect or instability—during your developmental years.


At HeartWise Hypnotherapy in San Diego, we specialize in treating this "invisible wound." Here is why talk therapy might have failed you, and how hypnosis offers a different path.



PTSD vs. C-PTSD: What’s the Difference?

To heal it, you must name it.


1. PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

  • Cause: Usually a distinct, single event (e.g., car crash, assault, natural disaster).

  • Flashbacks: Visual and auditory (reliving the specific moment).

  • Self-Image: "Something bad happened to me."


2. C-PTSD (Complex PTSD)

  • Cause: Ongoing, repetitive trauma where there was no escape (e.g., childhood neglect, a narcissist parent, long-term bullying).

  • Flashbacks: Emotional Flashbacks. You don't "see" the past; you feel the specific emotion of the past (smallness, terror, abandonment) in the present moment.

  • Self-Image: "I am bad. There is something wrong with me."


Why You Can't "Talk" Your Way Out of C-PTSD

Many of our clients come to us after years of talk therapy saying, "I understand why I am this way, but I still FEEL this way."


This is because C-PTSD is a Brain-Body Disconnect.


The trauma occurred when your brain was developing. It is hardwired into your nervous system—specifically the Vagus Nerve and the Amygdala.


When you are triggered today, your logical brain (Prefrontal Cortex) goes offline. You revert to the emotional age you were when the trauma happened. You cannot use logic to talk a 5-year-old nervous system out of a panic attack.


You need a somatic and subconscious intervention.


How Hypnotherapy Heals Complex Trauma

At HeartWise, we use a specialized protocol for C-PTSD that merges Somatic Processing with


Inner Child Work.


Step 1: Safety First (Regulation)

We never dive straight into trauma. First, we teach your nervous system what "safety" feels like. Using hypnosis, we install an "Anchor"—a physical trigger that instantly lowers your heart rate and brings you back to the present moment.


Step 2: Rescuing the Inner Child

We use Age Regression to find the part of you that is stuck in the past.

  • Example: If you feel intense shame when you make a mistake, we float back to the first time you felt that. We might find a 6-year-old version of you being yelled at.

  • The Cure: In the trance state, "Adult You" steps into the memory to protect and comfort "Child You." We rewrite the emotional ending of the story.


Step 3: Releasing the Body Memory

The body keeps the score. We use somatic release techniques to let go of the physical tension (armoring) you have been carrying in your shoulders, jaw, and gut for decades.


Does This Sound Like You?

  • Hyper-Vigilance: You are always scanning the room for danger or mood shifts in others.

  • The Inner Critic: A harsh, relentless voice in your head that judges your every move.

  • Isolation: You push people away because trust feels dangerous.

  • Perfectionism: You believe if you are "perfect," you will finally be safe from criticism.


If you nodded along to this list, please know: You are not broken. You are a normal person having a normal reaction to an abnormal past.


It’s Time to Stop Just Surviving.

You survived the past. You don't have to keep surviving it every single day.


Hypnotherapy offers a gentle, safe, and powerful way to finally turn off the alarm system and come home to yourself.


Ready to heal the root cause?



 
 
 

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