Complex Trauma & Childhood Abuse Therapy in Fort Wayne, IN
EMDR and IFS-informed counseling for teens and young adults, ages 13–25
Complex trauma therapy helps people heal from harm that happened repeatedly or over a long period, most often in childhood and often at the hands of someone who was supposed to be safe. At Unwilted Counseling in Fort Wayne, Destina Rekeweg, LMHC, provides paced, phase-based complex trauma and C-PTSD treatment using EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed therapy. Sessions are available in person in Fort Wayne or by secure telehealth across Indiana and Ohio.
Many people describe it this way: "I know what happened to me, I just don't know why I still react like this." If that sounds familiar, you are not broken. Your nervous system learned to protect you, and it can learn something new. If you're looking for help after one specific event, such as an accident or assault, see Trauma Therapy & PTSD Treatment.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation | Call or text (260) 255-6432
What Is Complex Trauma?
Complex trauma is the emotional and psychological impact of repeated or prolonged harm, usually beginning in childhood and often involving a caregiver. Because it happens while a child's brain, body, and sense of self are still developing, it shapes how a person handles emotions, trusts others, and sees themselves.
Complex Trauma vs. Single-Incident Trauma
Category | Single-incident Trauma | Complex Trauma |
|---|---|---|
Source | One event, such as an accident or assault | Repeated or prolonged harm, often in childhood |
Common symptoms | Flashbacks, avoidance, being on edge | Those symptoms plus emotional dysregulation, shame, distrust, dissociation |
Sense of self | Usually intact | Often shaped by shame or feeling unworthy |
Treatment pace | Often shorter-term | Typically phased and longer-term |
For help after a single event, see Trauma Therapy & PTSD Treatment.
Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is recognized as a distinct diagnosis in the World Health Organization's ICD-11. It includes the core symptoms of PTSD along with ongoing difficulty regulating emotions, a negative self-concept, and challenges in relationships. These are adaptations, not character flaws. They made sense in an unsafe environment, and they can be relearned in a safe one.
Signs of Complex Trauma in Teens and Young Adults
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Strong reactions to small, present-day triggers, without knowing why
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Feeling detached from your body, emotions, or life, as if watching from a distance
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A harsh inner critic or deep shame that doesn't match the facts
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Difficulty trusting people, even those who have earned it
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Constant scanning for danger (hypervigilance), even when you're safe
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Coping patterns that once helped but now cause problems: self-harm, dissociation, people-pleasing, shutting down
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Trouble concentrating, avoiding school or work, or anger that seems out of proportion
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A history of abuse, neglect, or a chaotic home, sometimes with partial or fragmented memories
If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or call 911.
Where Complex Trauma Comes From
Physical or emotional abuse. Violence, harsh criticism, manipulation, or love that always came with conditions can lead to fear-based relationships and a nervous system on high alert.
Sexual abuse. Because it is a betrayal by someone trusted, it often affects trust, intimacy, and body image, and leaves shame that was never the survivor's to carry.
Neglect. When physical or emotional needs go unmet, a child may learn "I'm not worth caring for," which can make it hard to ask for help or name feelings later.
Witnessing violence or household dysfunction. A parent's addiction, mental illness, incarceration, or ongoing chaos can leave a young person feeling powerless or push them into an adult role too soon.
Systemic or identity-based harm. Foster care, institutional settings, the juvenile justice system, and discrimination can compound trauma. LGBTQ+ youth may also carry trauma from rejection or from hiding who they are.
How Complex Trauma Therapy Works: Three Phases
Complex trauma responds best to a paced, phase-based approach. Processing memories before a foundation of safety exists can overwhelm a person, so the order matters.
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Safety and stabilization. We build coping skills, emotional regulation, and trust with your therapist before any trauma processing begins. This phase is what makes the next one work.
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Processing the trauma. Using EMDR, trauma-focused methods, and body-based approaches, we gradually work through traumatic memories at a pace you control.
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Reconnection and integration. We build life on the other side of survival: identity, self-compassion, healthier relationships, and goals that belong to you.
The pace differs for everyone. Some people move through stabilization in a couple of months. With multiple or early-childhood traumas it can take longer, which does not mean anything is going wrong.
Our Approach to Complex Trauma Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). A well-researched method for processing traumatic memories without narrating every detail aloud. The World Health Organization recommends EMDR for PTSD in children, adolescents, and adults. For complex trauma, EMDR is introduced only after stabilization.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed therapy. We work with, rather than against, the different "parts" of you that developed to cope, like the protector that stays on guard or the part that still feels young and afraid.
Attachment-focused work. We explore how early relationships shaped the way you connect with others today, and build new experiences of safety and trust, starting with the therapy relationship.
Symptom-specific tools. Practical strategies for dissociation, emotional dysregulation, hypervigilance, self-harm urges, and shame.
Trauma-informed at every step. You set the pace. Your experience is taken seriously. Setbacks are a normal part of healing.
Why Families Choose Unwilted Counseling
Focused on ages 13–25. All clinical work is with teens and young adults, so the care reflects how complex trauma shows up at this stage of life. Specialized training. EMDR and IFS training, with a clinical interest in attachment and complex trauma. One consistent therapist. As a solo private-pay practice, the same therapist holds your full history over time. Your pace, always. What is discussed, and when, is your decision.
For Parents and Caregivers
If you're a parent or guardian looking for help for your teen, you may be wondering how involved you'll be and how to support your child at home. Parents are part of the intake process and receive general updates on progress, while sessions are mostly one-on-one so your teen has a private space to open up. When it helps, parents may join some sessions to learn how to respond to triggers and support regulation at home. If there is ever a safety concern, you will be informed. If family relationships are part of the healing, Parent-Teen Relationship Counseling may also help.
The free 15-minute consultation is a good place to ask these questions.
Meet Your Therapist: Destina Rekeweg, LMHC
Destina is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and more than three years of experience working exclusively with teens and young adults. She is trained in EMDR and Internal Family Systems, with a clinical interest in attachment patterns and complex trauma.
Her approach treats your history as real and your pace as non-negotiable. The goal is not to relive what happened. It is to reach a place where it no longer runs the show.
In-Person and Virtual Complex Trauma Therapy
In person in Fort Wayne. Sessions take place in a private, comfortable office at 3514 Stellhorn Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46815.
Virtual across Indiana and Ohio. Secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth is available to clients located in Indiana and Ohio through the Counseling Compact.
In-person sessions often suit deeper trauma processing. Virtual sessions are easier to sustain around school or work. The two can be combined depending on the phase of treatment.
What to Expect
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Free consultation (15 minutes). A low-pressure conversation to describe what's going on and ask questions, with no obligation to continue.
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Comprehensive trauma assessment (50 minutes). We talk through your history, current symptoms, safety, and goals, at whatever level of detail feels right.
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Ongoing sessions (50 minutes). Phase-based work that moves from stabilization to processing to integration.
Complex trauma builds up over time, so meaningful healing usually takes months rather than weeks, and often a year or longer for deeper layers. Progress is reviewed regularly so the timeline stays honest.
Fees and Payment
Unwilted Counseling is a private-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. This allows treatment to be guided by clinical need rather than insurance authorization. Many clients use out-of-network benefits for possible reimbursement, and we can provide documentation for that purpose.
Service | Duration | Fee |
|---|---|---|
Initial intake / comprehensive assessment | 50 mins | $160 (confirm) |
Ongoing session | 50 min | $135 |
Intensive session | 75 min | $202.50 |
Intensive session | 100 min | $270 |
Intensive session | 150 min | $405 |
See our full fees and policies page.
Confidentiality and HIPAA
Your privacy matters. Your counseling sessions and personal information are kept private and protected under HIPAA, whether you meet in person or through secure online sessions. You choose what you feel comfortable sharing.
For teens, sessions stay private, with parents or guardians involved as needed to support care and safety. Clients 18 and older have full confidentiality.
Frequently Asked Questions
About Complex Trauma Therapy
PTSD typically follows a single event, while complex trauma results from repeated or prolonged harm, usually beginning in childhood. Complex trauma often adds difficulties with emotions, self-worth, and relationships. Treatment is more gradual, with a longer stabilization phase and processing that may address several memories rather than one.
Not when therapy is paced well. Trauma processing begins only after you have tools to stay grounded, and you decide how much to share. EMDR can work without describing every detail aloud. Some temporary discomfort can happen, and sessions are structured so you leave feeling steady.
That's very common with early or repeated trauma. You don't need a complete memory to heal. Therapy focuses on how past experiences show up now, in your body, reactions, and relationships, and memories are never pushed or forced.
Longer than single-incident trauma, because there are more layers to work through. Many people notice meaningful change within the first several months, while deeper healing often takes a year or more. Progress is reviewed regularly.
Yes. The brain and nervous system can learn new patterns at any age, especially in the teen and young adult years. Many people reach a point where old reactions lose their grip and they feel safer in their body and relationships.
Your experience is still real, and you don't need anyone's agreement to heal. Therapy gives you space to trust your own perspective, and you decide if, when, and how to address it with family.
That's a situation many clients face, especially teens still living at home. Therapy focuses first on your safety, boundaries, and coping. If you are currently unsafe, your therapist will help you take steps toward safety, which may include involving appropriate supports.
Yes. EMDR is recommended by the World Health Organization for children and adolescents as well as adults. For teens with complex trauma, it is introduced gradually and only after stabilization skills are in place.
Yes. Parents are part of getting started and receive general updates, and may join some sessions to learn how to support their teen at home. Most sessions are one-on-one so your teen can speak openly, and parents are informed of any safety concerns.
Unwilted Counseling is private pay and does not bill insurance directly. Many clients use out-of-network benefits for possible reimbursement, and documentation can be provided. The initial assessment is $160 and ongoing sessions are $135.
Good Faith Estimate: Clients paying privately have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining expected costs of care. You may request this prior to scheduling.
Start Healing at Your Own Pace!
You don't have to have it all figured out, remember every detail, or be ready to talk about everything to begin. A free 15-minute consultation is a low-pressure way to describe what you've been carrying and see what support could look like. Call or text (260) 255-6432 or request your free consultation.
