Insights from the Voices of Complex Trauma Project

The purpose of this freely available educational video series is to raise awareness and understanding about the experience of complex trauma. The poster contains highlights from the series content with a focus on how health care providers can best meet the needs of those who experience complex trauma.

Complex trauma is trauma that is prolonged or repeated. It may result from experiences such as prison, sexual slavery, growing up in an abusive household, or living in a controlling, abusive relationship. Complex trauma affects every area of a person’s experience: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Survivors experience stigma, misinterpretation and misunderstanding from health care providers and others. In this series, six individuals who have experienced complex trauma discuss what happened, symptoms they experienced, stigmas they faced, experiences with health care providers, and what brings them hope. Hearing directly from survivors creates empathy and understanding and can lead to more sensitive and accurate healthcare.

This series is divided into six sections. Suggested playlists are provided in a user guide so that the series is useful for undergraduate or graduate education in health care and social service fields, continuing education, or for general community audiences.

Student nurses who viewed the series commented:
“It opened my eyes. I am not going to let them have that kind of experience under my care.”
“It made me angry in the right kind of way.”
The series may be found by searching “Purdue Mediaspace” and within that, “Voices of Complex Trauma.”