Understanding Complex Trauma

PTSD vs. C-PTSD · Somatic Foundations · Emotional Flashbacks · Indigenous Lens

A two-and-a-half-hour professional development course for therapists, counsellors, social workers, educators, and frontline helpers who want to work with complex trauma more accurately, more somatically, and with a genuinely Indigenous-informed clinical lens.

The Problem This Course Addresses

Most clinical training programs teach PTSD. They do not teach C-PTSD.

The result is that clinicians working with some of the most complex, most underserved clients, people whose trauma began in childhood, whose nervous systems were shaped by chronic relational threat, whose symptoms have been misread as borderline traits, treatment resistance, or personality disorder, are doing that work without the specific framework it requires.

This course exists to close that gap.

What You Will Learn

This course covers four interconnected areas that are chronically undertrained in standard clinical education.

PTSD vs. C-PTSD: the diagnostic distinction, why it matters clinically, and what gets missed when C-PTSD is misread as something else.

Somatic Foundations: how the body holds trauma, what polyvagal theory tells us about complex trauma presentation, and how to bring somatic awareness into clinical practice safely and effectively.

Emotional Flashbacks: what they are, why they are so often missed, and how to help clients recognize and work with them.

Indigenous Lens: intergenerational trauma transmission, the principles of cultural safety as a clinical stance, and the most common errors made when applying Western frameworks to Indigenous clients without cultural context.

Course Modules

Module 01: Setting the Stage
An orientation to the course framework, key definitions, and the clinical and cultural context for everything that follows.

Module 02: PTSD vs. C-PTSD
ICD-11 diagnostic criteria, the three domains of Disturbances in Self-Organization, and why the distinction matters for treatment planning.

Module 03: Body-Up: The Somatic Foundation
Polyvagal theory, the three autonomic states, and practical somatic tools for working with complex trauma clients.

Module 04: Emotional Flashbacks
What they are, how they present, why they are missed, and how to introduce the concept to clients.

Module 05: Indigenous Clients and Intergenerational Trauma
Pathways of transmission, cultural safety as a relational stance, and common clinical errors to avoid.

Module 06: Clinical Application and Tools
Bringing it all together with practical scripts, tools, and frameworks for immediate use.

Module 07: Closing and Integration
Consolidating learning, next steps, and continuing education information.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Distinguish between PTSD and C-PTSD using ICD-11 diagnostic criteria, including the three domains of Disturbances in Self-Organization.
Identify the three autonomic states described in polyvagal theory and explain their relevance to complex trauma presentation in clinical settings.
Recognize emotional flashbacks as a distinct symptom of C-PTSD and differentiate them from other presentations including treatment resistance, borderline traits, and affect dysregulation.
Apply at least three somatic grounding tools appropriate for use with complex trauma clients, including contraindications for each.
Describe the pathways of intergenerational trauma transmission relevant to Indigenous clients, including epigenetic, nervous system, and relational transmission.
Identify a minimum of four common clinical errors made when applying Western therapeutic frameworks to Indigenous clients without cultural context.
Articulate the principles of cultural safety as a relational clinical stance, distinguishing it from cultural competency as a checklist.
Adapt trauma-informed psychoeducation scripts for emotional flashbacks to suit individual client needs and cultural contexts.

Who This Is For

This course is designed for therapists and counsellors working with complex trauma, C-PTSD, and dissociation, educators and school-based professionals supporting trauma-exposed students, social workers, frontline helpers, and community support workers, healthcare professionals seeking a trauma-informed framework for their practice, and any helping professional who wants to understand the body, the nervous system, and the cultural dimensions of trauma more deeply.

This course is appropriate for practitioners at all levels, from students in practicum to experienced clinicians looking to deepen and update their framework.

What Is Included

2.5 hours of professional development content across 7 modules
Facilitator scripts and slide content for each module
Participant workbook, 43 pages, printable PDF
Individual module workbooks, one per module
Audio and printable grounding practices
Certificate of completion
Lifetime access to all course materials
2.5 CE hours, pending accreditation through CCPA and BCACC

Join the Waitlist

Understanding Complex Trauma launches May 31st, 2026. Join the waitlist now to lock in your early bird rate.

Early bird rate: $85 USD, available to waitlist members only, good until June 14th, 2026. Introductory rate: $97 USD, available after launch. Full rate: $147 USD, once CE accreditation is confirmed through CCPA and BCACC.

Payment plans available at every price point.

About the Instructor

Ist’tłā (Wanda Wiwcharuck) is Tahltan and Gitxsan, a member of the Tsesk’iye (Crow) Clan, living and working on Ts’msyen Territory in Kxeen (Prince Rupert), BC.
She is a certified Trauma-Informed Coach, certified Somatic Coach, and holds certification in Somatic EMDR. She is a qualified BC educator with more than twenty years of experience in education and social development. She carries C-PTSD and brings thirty years of lived research alongside her formal training.
TIES was built on the premise that the clinicians doing the most complex work deserve the most specific training. This course is the foundation of that commitment.