Complex PTSD — Definition, Differentiation from PTSD, and Integrative Treatment

This CPD programme gives psychologists and psychotherapists a thorough, evidence-based command of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), the diagnostic category formally adopted by ICD-11 in 2018. Over eight structured modules you will learn to set CPTSD apart from classical PTSD, to work with the six ICD-11 criteria — including the Disturbances in Self-Organization (DSO) triad of affective dysregulation, negative self-concept and interpersonal difficulties — and to run a rigorous psychometric assessment with internationally validated instruments (ITQ, CAPS-5, PCL-5, DES-II, ACE).

The course unpacks the consensus three-phase treatment model shaped by Judith Herman and Marylène Cloitre — stabilization, trauma processing, reconnection — and supplies the integrative framework the ISTSS recommends for survivors of prolonged, interpersonal and inescapable trauma. You will gain working command of complementary approaches: on the psychodynamic side, Winnicott’s holding function, traumatic transference, Fonagy and Bateman’s mentalization, and disorganized attachment; on the cognitive-behavioural side, Cloitre’s STAIR programme, Resick’s Cognitive Processing Therapy, Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model, and DBT-informed skills.

The closing module turns to the clinician: vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, supervision as an ethical obligation, and concrete self-care habits — because working with one of the most demanding populations in clinical psychology has to be sustainable to be good.

Keywords: complex PTSD, CPTSD, ICD-11, complex trauma, traumatic dissociation, ITQ, phase-based model, STAIR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, EMDR, mentalization, disorganized attachment, Judith Herman, Marylène Cloitre, Bessel van der Kolk, vicarious trauma, continuing education, psychotherapy.

Learning objectives. Participants who complete the course will be able to:

• Differentiate CPTSD from classical PTSD by applying the six ICD-11 criteria — DSO triad included — and carry out the differential diagnosis with borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorders and Developmental Trauma Disorder.
• Perform a clinically safe, rigorous psychometric evaluation (International Trauma Questionnaire, CAPS-5, PCL-5, DES-II, ACE) while conducting a containing first interview that guards against decompensation and flags contraindications to early exposure.
• Organize treatment along the internationally agreed phase model (stabilization, processing, reconnection), read the clinical signals for moving between phases, and hold psychodynamic and CBT contributions together in one coherent frame.
• Sustain their own practice: recognize vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue as they emerge, use supervision as an ethical requirement, and apply practical self-care that supports long-term work with complex trauma.