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Introduction
Complex PTSD (CPTSD) emerges from sustained or repeated trauma and often presents as a mix of mistrust, identity disruption, emotional numbing, and difficulties staying connected to others. These patterns can feel overwhelming to clinicians, not because treatment is impossible, but because the path forward isn’t always obvious.
The event will be equivalent to 5.1/2hrs of CPD.
Content
This workshop breaks CPTSD down into its essential “what, why, and how” — what defines it, why it develops and persists, and how CBT skills and strategies can be used to treat it effectively. We will explore how to identify the core components of CPTSD, build clear and workable formulations, and translate these into structured, flexible, patient-centred treatment plans.
Participants will learn practical CBT strategies for selecting and sequencing trauma memories, managing emotional dysregulation without derailing therapy, and strengthening engagement and trust in individuals who may struggle with both. We’ll also look at how to address the deeper cognitive-emotional states that commonly shape CPTSD — such as mental defeat, betrayal, shame, and survival-based loyalty conflicts — and how to navigate relational patterns influenced by secrecy, coercion, stigma, and ambivalence.
Using real clinical examples, demonstrations, and skills practice, this workshop aims to give clinicians a clear, grounded, and actionable approach to working confidently and effectively with CPTSD.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
• Understand what CPTSD is, why it develops and persists, and how CBT skills and strategies can be used to treat it
• Develop formulation-driven treatment plans that address complex trauma histories and comorbidities
• Select, structure, and pace trauma-memory processing in a coherent and effective way
• Use CBT strategies to manage emotional dysregulation, mistrust, avoidance, and motivational barriers
• Address core cognitive-emotional themes (e.g., shame, betrayal, horror, mental defeat) and relational dynamics
• Support patients to rebuild identity, reconnect with meaningful activities, and take steps toward sustained recovery
Training Modalities
Didactic content with lots of clinical examples, Q&A live and video rolepelays
Key References
Murray, H., & El-Leithy, S. (2022). Working with complexity in PTSD: a cognitive therapy approach. Routledge.
Murray, H., Grey, N., Warnock-Parkes, E., Kerr, A., Wild, J., Clark, D. M., & Ehlers, A. (2022). Ten misconceptions about trauma-focused CBT for PTSD. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 15, e33.
About the presenter
Dr Sharif El-Leithy is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead of the Traumatic Stress Service in London. He specialises in the psychological impact of life-threatening and prolonged trauma and served on the NICE (2018) PTSD guideline update committee. With more than 25 years of experience delivering CBT for PTSD — including highly complex presentations involving war, torture, domestic abuse, and childhood adversity — he is co-author of Working with Complexity in PTSD: A Cognitive Therapy Approach (Routledge, 2022).
Who should attend
This workshop is aimed at therapists delivering trauma-focused treatments in routine clinical settings who want clearer, more confident ways of working with CPTSD. It will be most relevant for high-intensity practitioners, CBT therapists, counselling and clinical psychologists, and nurse therapists. Colleagues providing CBT-informed interventions in adult secondary care or community mental health teams will also find it highly applicable.