Sury Klein, complex trauma and CPTSD therapist serving New York and New Jersey
Complex Trauma & CPTSD Therapy • NY + NJ

Complex Trauma & CPTSD Therapy in New York and New Jersey

You want connection, but sometimes closeness makes you pull away. You replay conversations. Notice tiny shifts in someone's tone. Know you're safe, but still find yourself preparing for something to go wrong.

Therapy isn't only about stopping the pattern. I want to understand why a part of you learned that the pattern was necessary in the first place.
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LMSW (NY) LSW (NJ) Adults 18+ Free 15-Minute Consultation
You Might Recognize This

Sometimes complex trauma doesn't look like trauma.

You want someone to understand you. Then you regret how much you told them.

Someone's tone changes and you're already wondering what you did.

You replay a conversation long after the other person has moved on.

Everyone comes to you. Somehow, you rarely go to anyone.

You ask for reassurance. Then have trouble believing it.

You know you're safe. A part of you is still waiting for something to go wrong.

PTSD & CPTSD

Here's one way to picture the difference.

People often hear “trauma” and imagine one terrible event. But trauma doesn't always happen that way.

Sometimes there is a clear before and after. Other times, the difficult thing wasn't only what happened once. It was what kept happening, or what you kept having to adapt to.

Think: One Major Impact

PTSD

Imagine an egg being struck hard with a hammer. There may be a clear event that overwhelmed your ability to cope and left a strong before-and-after.

Something happened that changed how safe the world felt.
Think: Repeated Impact

Complex Trauma / CPTSD

Now imagine that instead of one blow, the egg is cut or struck again and again. You keep adjusting to what comes next. Eventually, adapting becomes part of how you move through the world.

It wasn't only what happened. It was what you had to keep becoming in order to handle it.
This is a metaphor, not a diagnostic rule. PTSD can also result from repeated trauma, and people's experiences do not fit neatly into one picture. CPTSD is recognized in the ICD-11; the DSM-5-TR does not list it as a separate diagnosis from PTSD.
Complex Trauma

You don't have to convince me it was bad enough.

Maybe there isn't one event you point to when someone asks what happened. Maybe your childhood looked pretty normal from the outside.

But you learned to watch moods. Stay easy. Need less. Handle things yourself. Keep people happy. Or get very good at disappearing inside yourself when things became too much.

Instead of only asking, “How do I stop doing this?” we can also ask, “What did this help me survive, avoid, or hold together?”

Wondering if this is what you've been experiencing?

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Attachment & Complex Trauma

You can want closeness and protect yourself from it at the same time.

I want connection.

And then I protect myself.

I want someone to really understand me.
Then I regret how much I shared.
I want reassurance that we're okay.
Then I don't quite believe it.
I want to depend on someone.
Then needing them feels uncomfortable.
I want to let someone get close.
Then I find myself shutting down or pulling away.
One part can be reaching for connection while another is saying, “Careful. We know how this can go.”
How We Might Work Together

I don't want to get rid of the part that's protecting you.

01

Notice the pattern

When does it show up? What happened right before? What does your mind immediately assume?

02

Understand the protection

The part that shuts down, overthinks, stays busy, keeps everyone happy, or refuses to need anyone usually has a reason.

03

See what becomes possible

When we understand the reaction instead of fighting it, there can be more room to respond differently.

My work is informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS), attachment-based work, and trauma-focused approaches.
Inside The Therapy Room

We can start with what happened Tuesday.

Someone didn't text back.
Someone sounded annoyed and you couldn't stop thinking about it.
Someone wanted to talk and suddenly you wanted to disappear.
You said yes while everything inside you wanted to say no.

You don't have to walk into therapy and give me a perfectly organized history of your childhood.

We can take something that happened this week and slow it down. What happened inside? What did a part of you think was about to happen? What did you suddenly want to do?

That's often where the old pattern becomes visible in present-day life.

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Sury Klein, LMSW and LSW, complex trauma therapist
Meet Sury

I'm interested in the pattern underneath the pattern.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than 15 years working as a designer. My career changed, but one thing didn't: I've always been interested in patterns.

In therapy, that means I'm engaged. I ask questions. We aren't going to sit in silence while you try to figure out the perfect thing to say.

When there's a part of you that you really don't like, I'm usually interested in meeting that part first.
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New York + New Jersey

Complex trauma therapy where you are.

Complex Trauma Therapy in New York

I work with adults in New York through telehealth, within my current New York licensure and practice structure.

Complex Trauma Therapy in New Jersey

I also work with adults in New Jersey within my current New Jersey licensure and practice structure. Reach out for current availability and session options.

Questions About Complex Trauma Therapy

Frequently asked questions

They overlap, and the distinction is more complicated than “one event versus many events.” CPTSD includes PTSD symptoms along with additional difficulties involving emotion regulation, self-concept, and relationships. CPTSD is recognized in the ICD-11, while the DSM-5-TR does not list it as a separate diagnosis.
You don't need to decide that before coming to therapy. We can look at what happened, what you learned to do in response, and how those patterns are affecting your life now.
Memory gaps can happen for many reasons. Therapy doesn't require us to assume why they exist or reconstruct a perfect timeline. We can work with what you're noticing now.
No. You don't have to tell your whole story at once or share details before you're ready. We can begin with what's happening in your life now.
Yes, within my current licensure and practice structure. I am an LMSW in New York and an LSW in New Jersey. Contact me or schedule a free consultation to discuss current availability and whether working together may be a fit.
A Place To Start

You don't have to figure out what's “wrong” before reaching out.

Bring the thing you keep doing, feeling, avoiding, replaying, or not quite understanding. We can start there.

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New York + New Jersey  •  848-245-2096  •  support@suryklein.com
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