PTSD, cptsd, & complex trauma therapy - online
Hi, I’m Claire - a trauma specialist supporting adults with PTSD and complex trauma
If you have complex PTSD, knowing where to even start in therapy can feel overwhelming. There's so much going on, and so many layers to it, that it's hard to know what to focus on first.
That's actually where the way I work makes a real difference.
Rather than following a set protocol, I work integratively — using schema therapy and coping mode work alongside trauma-specific memory processing. That means we start with what's having the biggest impact on your life right now. Not what happened first, not what feels most dramatic, but what's getting in the way most today.
A lot of that tends to show up in patterns - people-pleasing, overcompensating with worry or anger, detaching from yourself or others. These aren't personality traits. They're ways your system learnt to cope, and they can keep you stuck in loops that maintain the trauma even when the original situation is long gone.
Working out where those patterns come from, what they're protecting, and how to update the learning underneath them, that's the work. And it's both daunting and genuinely exciting, because it means getting to find out who you actually are when those patterns aren't running the show.
Though that's one version of this work. If your main goal is reducing flashbacks, nightmares, or the day-to-day impact of trauma symptoms, we can focus there too. You lead, and we work on what matters most to you. With CPTSD I often find the two are connected, but that unfolds at your pace, not mine.
Alongside my private practice, I work in the NHS as a Specialist Psychotherapist supporting adults with complex PTSD. Within this role, I also offer consultation and supervision to other clinicians working with complex trauma.
I work with approaches designed for trauma, so we can go deeper when you’re ready.
Making sense of the patterns
We’ll map out the coping responses that developed to protect you: shutting down, staying alert, people-pleasing, overcontrolling, and start to understand what they were responding to. This gives us a clear picture of what’s driving things before we go anywhere near the harder material.
Building the foundations
Before working with memories directly, we spend time building your capacity to manage what comes up. That might involve compassion-focused work, skills for steadying yourself, or chair work to understand the different parts of your experience. We don’t move forward until it feels possible to do so.
Working with memories
When you’re ready, we work directly with the memories and emotional learnings that are keeping the patterns in place - using EMDR, imagery work, or trauma-focused CBT depending on what fits best. The aim isn’t to erase the past but to update what it taught you, so it no longer runs your life in the background.
Finding a way forward
We finish by looking at what’s changed and what you want to carry into the next part of your life - building on what’s shifted rather than just stopping when the hard work is done.
You won’t be asked to share everything all at once, and you don’t have to feel safe from day one. My job is to show up with you, be honest, and move at a pace that feels manageable. You can pause, slow down, or say no whenever you need to.
For many people, therapy gradually becomes a place where talking about things feels possible, sometimes for the first time. That process of building trust is part of the work.
Education
PGDip Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - Royal Holloway
PGCert Advanced Practice in Psychological Wellbeing - University of Surrey
BSc Psychology - University of Sussex
Trainings
EMDR Training Parts 1 & 2 - The EMDR Academy
Time-limited Schema Therapy - Schema Therapy School
Compassion-focused Therapy Training - Balanced Minds
Ready to take the next step?
If you've been thinking about this for a while but haven't quite been able to take the step - that's really common with complex trauma. You don't need to have it figured out before you get in touch.