Health & Fitness

The Complex Trauma Podcast

by Sarah Herstich

Explicit Mental HealthHealth & FitnessEducation

Share this ranking Is this your show? Claim it

Listen on Apple Podcasts RSS feed

Chart positions today · United States

Not on the United States charts we track today.

If you like The Complex Trauma Podcast, try…

Healing CPTSD

Latest episodes

Why Do I Keep Replaying Conversations? Rumination and CPTSD

October 28, 2026 · 34 min

Do you lie awake replaying a conversation from three days ago, rewriting what you said and wondering if they're mad at you? In this solo episode, I'm talking about rumination and complex trauma: why so many of us replay, rewrite, and…
Why Do I Feel Worse After Therapy? EMDR and Complex Trauma

October 21, 2026 · 40 min

Ever leave a therapy session looking totally fine, then spend the next three days clenching your jaw, snapping at everyone, and wondering if you’re just bad at therapy? Or find yourself completely checked out mid-session with no idea how…
What Greek Myths Reveal About Complex Trauma with Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown

October 14, 2026 · 47 min

Why do we keep reliving the same painful patterns, even when we can see them coming? In this episode, psychotherapist and complex trauma expert Dr. Gillian O’Shea Brown joins me to explore how Greek myths can help us make sense of complex…
Is It a Part or Is It Dissociation? OSDD, DID, and CPTSD

October 7, 2026 · 33 min

Everyone has parts. So how do you know when a part is just a part of you, and when it's crossed into a dissociative disorder like OSDD or DID? This episode came from a listener healing from CPTSD who just found out she has a dissociative…
Why Do I Want Two Opposite Things? Conflicting Parts in Complex Trauma

September 30, 2026 · 26 min

Why can you feel lonely and then want everyone to leave you alone, or set a boundary and immediately want to take it back? Today, I explore why conflicting parts and contradictory responses can feel especially intense after complex trauma…

Show 7 more episodesShow fewer episodes

Grieving What You Never Had After Emotional Neglect

September 23, 2026 · 42 min

How do you grieve a childhood you never had? If you grew up with childhood emotional neglect, you may have heard that grief is part of complex trauma recovery and still have no idea what you're supposed to be grieving, or what that grief…
How Narcissistic Abuse Shapes Self-Trust, Relationships and Complex Trauma with Amy Marlow-MaCoy

September 16, 2026 · 45 min

What happens when you grow up learning that someone else’s needs, emotions, or version of reality matter more than your own? In this episode, I’m joined by Amy Marlow-MaCoy, MEd, LPC, to talk about narcissistic abuse and its relationship…
Functional Freeze and Why You Feel Stuck Even When You’re Functioning

September 9, 2026 · 29 min

You’re functioning. You may even be the person everyone relies on. But inside, you feel stuck, distant, or like you aren’t fully there for your own life. In this episode, I'm answering a listener’s question: Is functional freeze actually…
The Longing to Be Understood in Complex Trauma Recovery

September 2, 2026 · 24 min

You finally understand something about yourself. Something that took months of therapy to even name. And now you need someone else to get it too. This week we're talking about that longing, where it comes from, why it can feel so urgent…
Complex Trauma, Brain Fog, Memory & Focus Problems

August 26, 2026 · 40 min

Why can you handle a crisis without blinking but completely blank when someone asks what you want for dinner? Brain fog, forgetfulness, trouble focusing, difficulty starting tasks, and executive dysfunction can all show up alongside…
Why Trauma Memory Gaps Don't Mean You Made It Up

August 19, 2026 · 25 min

Maybe you barely remember your childhood. Maybe you've done years of trauma work, you're finally feeling better, and now you're wondering, was it really that bad? Did I make it all up? This episode is about trauma, memory, and…
The Messy Middle of Nervous System Regulation

August 12, 2026 · 15 min

This week's episode is a little different. Instead of something super polished, I'm giving you the real time version of my own messy middle. What dysregulation actually feels like in my body right now, why regulation isn't the absence of…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

A podcast for anyone healing from complex PTSD, childhood emotional neglect, and the patterns you've been carrying without knowing what to call them. Hosted by EMDR and somatic trauma therapist Sarah Herstich, each episode gets into nervous system healing, trauma responses, and what it actually takes to stop living in survival mode. If you've spent years people-pleasing, apologizing for existing, or holding it together on the outside while unraveling on the inside, this is for you. We talk about the fawn response, toxic shame, hypervigilance, and why your body still doesn't feel safe even when nothing bad is happening. No bypassing, no Band-Aids, just honest conversation about healing from complex trauma and getting your life back. Whether you're just figuring out what CPTSD is or you've been in therapy for years, you'll find nervous system education, somatic practices, and someone who actually understands what you're going through. New episodes every Wednesday.