What's the difference between PTSD and complex PTSD?

PTSD typically develops after a single traumatic event or a discrete set of events. Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) develops from prolonged or repeated trauma, often beginning in childhood, and includes the symptoms of standard PTSD plus difficulty regulating emotions, persistent negative self-concept, and patterns of relational difficulty. C-PTSD is recognized in the World Health Organization's ICD-11 diagnostic system.

Is developmental trauma the same as childhood trauma?

There's significant overlap, but they're not identical. Childhood trauma refers to traumatic experiences during childhood. Developmental trauma is a more specific clinical concept describing the patterned impact of adversity during the years when the brain, nervous system, and sense of self are still developing. Developmental trauma often shows up not as flashbacks of specific events, but as patterns: difficulty trusting, persistent anxiety, attachment struggles, a chronic sense that something is wrong even when life looks fine on paper.

Can I have generational trauma without knowing what happened?

Yes. Trauma can be transmitted across generations through family-system patterns and through epigenetic mechanisms researchers are still mapping. People sometimes carry the imprint of harm that happened to a parent, grandparent, or community before they were born — without consciously knowing the original story. This is not destiny. It's a starting point that can be worked with in therapy.

Trauma Therapy · Types

Types of trauma.

Trauma is not one thing. The shape of the trauma, when it happened, and how long it lasted all influence how it shows up later and how it is treated.

Reviewed by Sarah Martin, LCPC, Clinical Director Last updated April 26, 2026

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Why the type matters

Different kinds of trauma show up differently and respond best to different approaches. A single car accident produces a different symptom picture than years of childhood neglect, and the treatment paths look different too. Recognizing which kind of trauma you're carrying is part of figuring out how to work with it.

The categories below aren't strict diagnostic boxes. People often carry more than one kind, and some experiences live in the spaces between them. The point of naming the types is to help you orient, not to slot you into a diagnosis.

The five major categories

Trauma takes many forms

Single-incident (acute) trauma

A discrete, time-limited event that overwhelmed your capacity to cope: a car accident, an assault, a medical emergency, a natural disaster, the sudden loss of someone close to you.

Often responds well and quickly to focused trauma therapy.

Complex trauma (C-PTSD)

Trauma that was prolonged, repeated, or happened in situations where escape was not possible. Includes ongoing childhood abuse or neglect, intimate partner violence, captivity, and chronic exposure to threat.

Recognized in the WHO's ICD-11 diagnostic system.

Developmental trauma

Trauma that happened during the years when the brain, the nervous system, and your sense of self were still developing. Adverse childhood experiences shape neural architecture in ways that ripple into adulthood.

Often shows up as patterns rather than discrete flashbacks.

Generational & intergenerational trauma

Trauma can be transmitted across generations through family-system patterns and epigenetic mechanisms researchers are still mapping. People sometimes carry the imprint of harm that happened before they were born.

Not destiny. A starting point that can be worked with.

Vicarious & secondary trauma

Trauma can affect people who weren't directly harmed but were close to the person who was: family members, first responders, healthcare workers, and people who witnessed harm to others.

Symptom picture is similar even when the event happened to someone else.

More than one at once

Many people carry more than one type of trauma, often in layers: childhood material that shaped vulnerability to a specific adult event, generational patterns under both. The work attends to all of them.

A consultation can help you sort out what's underneath.

How treatment differs by type

The shape of the trauma changes the shape of treatment. The same modalities (EMDR, somatic work, attachment-based work, art therapy) appear across most courses of trauma treatment, but the pacing, sequencing, and emphasis vary.

Single-incident trauma

Often the most efficient kind of trauma to treat. A focused course of EMDR can resolve symptoms tied to a discrete event in 6 to 12 sessions for many people. EMDR intensives can sometimes condense this further when the timing fits.

Complex and developmental trauma

Treatment is longer and paced more carefully. Significant time is invested in stabilization and skill-building before active processing begins. The work often spans many months or years and integrates multiple modalities. See our complex PTSD page for more on what this looks like.

Generational trauma

Often surfaces in the context of treating other layers. The work may include exploring family-system patterns, naming inherited beliefs and roles, and grieving losses that were not yours but that you carry. Internal Family Systems work, narrative therapy, and EMDR can each have a place here.

Vicarious and secondary trauma

Treatment looks similar to direct trauma treatment in many ways. The same modalities apply. For people whose vicarious trauma comes from their professional role (clinicians, first responders, healthcare workers), additional attention to occupational pacing and self-care is often part of the work.

If you are in crisis right now

We are an outpatient practice and not a crisis service. If you or someone you love is in immediate danger or thinking about suicide, please call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or go to your nearest emergency room. Help is available right now.

Wondering what kind of trauma you're working with?

A consultation is the most direct way to talk through what's going on and figure out where to start. There is no commitment to start care from a consultation.

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