Complex Trauma and Healing From Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)

June is PTSD Awareness month - Here's what you need to know about FSA, Trauma, and recovering from Family Abuse.

Photo by Savannah B. on Unsplash

SAVE THE DATE - Friday, June 20, at 11 am PDT: Paid Subscriber Livestream

SAVE THE DATE: Monday, July 7, at 12 pm PDT: Public Collaborative Livestream with

Dr Simon Rogoff

, author of ‘Narcissism, Trauma, and Celebrity’ here on Substack.

Subscribe to get notified of when I go ‘live’!

This is a PUBLIC POST and you are free to share it. Your comments are also public.

Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) is a chronically stressful dynamic that destroys your sense of safety and security within your family-of-origin. The painful and confusing experiences associated with being the target of a systemic-wide negative family narrative are impossible for a child to integrate psycho-emotionally. The unrelentingly stressful experience of being in the 'family scapegoat' role can eventually lead to the development of complex trauma symptoms. Learn more about FSA by visiting my FSA Education website.

Complex Trauma (C-PTSD) vs. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

While both Complex Trauma (C-PTSD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) arise from traumatic experiences, they differ significantly in their origins, symptom presentation, and treatment approaches. Understanding these distinctions is crucial, especially when considering the profound impact of Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA) on child victims and adult survivors.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) typically develops after exposure to a single, identifiable traumatic event or a series of discrete, time-limited traumatic events. Examples include combat exposure, a serious accident, natural disasters, or a one-time assault. The symptoms of PTSD often include re-experiencing the trauma (e.g., flashbacks, nightmares), avoidance of reminders of the trauma, negative changes in thoughts and mood (e.g., feeling detached, difficulty experiencing positive emotions), and hyperarousal (e.g., exaggerated startle response, difficulty sleeping).

Complex Trauma (C-PTSD), on the other hand, results from prolonged, repeated, and inescapable exposure to interpersonal trauma, often in a context where the victim has little or no chance of escape and is dependent on the abuser(s). This type of trauma typically occurs in childhood and within relationships where there is an imbalance of power, such as ongoing child abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking, or, relevant to this discussion, Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA).

The key difference lies in the chronicity and relational nature of the trauma. Because C-PTSD develops within a context of ongoing relational betrayal and abuse, its symptoms are often more pervasive and deeply impact an individual's sense of self, their ability to regulate emotions, and their capacity for healthy relationships.

While individuals with C-PTSD may experience classic PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, they also commonly present with:

• Difficulties with Emotional Regulation: Intense mood swings, chronic feelings of emptiness, persistent rage, or an inability to feel emotions.

• Distorted Self-Perception: Feelings of worthlessness, shame, guilt, self-blame, or a persistent sense of being different from others.

• Relationship Disturbances: Difficulty forming healthy attachments, a tendency to repeat unhealthy relationship patterns, or extreme fear of abandonment or closeness.

• Dissociation: Feeling detached from one's body, thoughts, or memories, or a fragmented sense of identity.

• Physical Symptoms: Chronic pain, migraines, neck pain, auto-immune issues, digestive issues, fatigue, or other stress-related physical ailments.

• Loss of Meaning and Hope: A pervasive sense of hopelessness, despair, or a loss of belief in the world.

How Trauma Relates to Family Scapegoating Abuse (FSA)

Family Scapegoating Abuse is a chronically stressful dynamic that destroys the FSA target’s sense of safety and security within their family-of-origin (Mandeville, 2020). This precisely aligns with the conditions that lead to C-PTSD.

Being the target of a "systemic-wide negative family narrative" means repeated psychological and emotional abuse within the primary attachment system. The child is dependent on these family members for their survival and well-being, yet they are simultaneously being systematically devalued, shamed, and blamed.

This inescapable, prolonged relational trauma prevents the child from developing a secure sense of self, healthy emotional regulation skills, or the ability to trust others. The "unrelentingly stressful experience of being in the 'family scapegoat' role directly fosters the conditions for C-PTSD, leading to complex trauma symptoms that adult survivors often struggle with, such as feelings of helplessness, powerlessness, rage, depression, anxiety, isolation, and difficulty trusting” (Mandeville, 2020).

(You can share any text in this post, including the above quote, by highlighting it)

While an adult survivor of FSA might experience acute traumatic events within the scapegoating dynamic that could trigger PTSD-like symptoms, the underlying, pervasive, and relational nature of FSA means that C-PTSD is the more encompassing and accurate diagnosis. This is because diagnosis of C-PTSD addresses the fundamental disruption to the survivor's self, emotional world, and relational capacity caused by years of systemic abuse within the family unit. Effective healing from FSA therefore necessitates a trauma-informed approach that specifically acknowledges and addresses the unique challenges of complex trauma. (Note: Complex trauma is still not included in the DSM; United States-based clinicians must therefore be creative in their coding, typically classifying symptoms under PTSD).

Building the Foundation for FSA Recovery

Most clients who come to me for help with FSA-related issues have no idea that they are suffering from complex trauma symptoms. However, the fact of the matter is, if your family-of-origin has ostracized you and behaved in rejecting, shaming, and blaming ways - perhaps for years (or even decades) - you are unlikely to feel safe within your own body and within your primary relationships - even new, healthy relations you’ve created via romantic partnerships or ‘found family’.

To begin the process of recovering from family scapegoating abuse, your symptoms of complex trauma must be adequately assessed, then addressed. This is because you must reestablish a sense of inner safety and stability within yourself and your body, as described below:

Step One: Creating a Safe and Stable Healing Environment

To develop feelings of emotional and bodily safety and security, it is critical that you do all you can to create a predictable environment where you are protected from further psychological and emotional injury. This will help you to develop inner emotional stability as you begin to relax and trust that you are safe from unexpected attacks and other types of harm.

You must also identify and minimize 'triggers' or it will not be possible to calm your body and ease your mind. Understanding what triggers you in regard to family interactions will allow you to better manage your complex trauma symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks, or rage, and may require you to limit or temporarily (or permanently) end contact with severely triggering, abusive family members.

The purpose of this step is to create a space you can recover and heal in, a space that does not allow you to be continuously re-traumatized due to scapegoating dynamics. For example, a supportive community of FSA survivors might provide a group "container" that is supportive and helpful. This step will also assist you in overcoming any emotional dysregulation you are experiencing as a survivor of FSA.

Step Two: Acknowledging and Coming to Terms with Traumatized 'Parts'

This second step involves your exploring traumatized, split off, 'survival' parts of your personality so that you can begin the process of integrating them into your conscious, adult identity (refer to my article on structural dissociation to learn more).

This step will likely require you to work with a trauma-informed Mental Health professional who understands family systems and the damaging effects of being the ‘scapegoat’ or the "family IP" (identified patient). This step addresses both complex trauma symptoms and the reality of the damage done to you via family scapegoating abuse dynamics and events, and therefore is the foundation of FSA recovery. Learn more by visiting my website.

A skillful pacing of treatment is warranted during this step, as you do not want to find yourself in a situation where you are overwhelmed with painful feelings or experiencing flashbacks, nightmares, etc. Although you may feel desperate to heal as quickly as you can, when it comes to healing from complex trauma, going slow is both necessary and advisable.

In my FSA Recovery Consulting practice, I use Dr. Janina Fisher’s workbook, ‘Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma’ when working with clients with C-PTSD. Learn more about Dr. Fisher’s treatment philosophy in regard to C-PTSD recovery. I completed my advanced training as a Certified Complex Trauma Treatment Professional (CCTP) under Dr. Fisher and highly recommend her written offerings, including her workbook.

I’ll be posting an article next week about FSA and ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scores (ACEs) - Be sure to subscribe to my Substack so my free article will go to your inbox.

Step Three: Noticing "Triggers" / Nervous System Activation

When engaging in trauma work and reclaiming traumatized parts, you need not feel you must "dig up" every traumatic memory. You need merely pay attention to "triggers" by noticing your body's reactions to life events and trust that it is remembering, even if you consciously cannot.

For example, you might have arranged to call an elderly parent every Sunday and be confused as to why you feel avoidant, anxious, or nauseated. The approaching phone call is the "trigger"; your physical symptoms are your body's way of "remembering" the past scapegoating abuse (Dr. Janina Fisher calls this ‘Implicit Memory’).

Step Four: Integrating Somatic Interventions

It is important to note that modalities used for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are not necessarily effective for the treatment of complex trauma (C-PTSD). I therefore advise my clients to make sure that modalities used to treat PTSD, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CTP); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS) have been adapted by the practitioner to treat complex trauma. Somatic-focused therapies, such as sensorimotor therapy or other therapies that integrate somatic interventions, can be particularly helpful for the treatment of complex trauma symptoms as well.

Life Beyond Complex Trauma and FSA

By establishing a strong foundation for addressing complex trauma via the above four steps, and addressing the effects of Family Scapegoating Abuse, creating and living a fulfilling life free of abuse is indeed possible.

This does not mean that you will not sometimes feel sad, angry, anxious, or depressed about what happened to you in your family. You will not experience a complete absence of thoughts and feelings related to family scapegoating abuse. However, you will be able to choose who should and should not be in your life based on the quality of your interactions, versus being ruled by complex trauma triggers, duty, fear, shame, or guilt. This will allow you to feel in control of your life and your emotional and relational experiences, versus continuing to be (or feel) victimized by soul-deadening scapegoating family dynamics.

---

To learn more about recovering from Family Scapegoating Abuse, read my book, Rejected, Shamed, and Blamed. I’ll also be sending on article out on FSA and ACE scores next week - Subscribe to receive my posts in your inbox.

Have something to share? I’d love to hear your comments on this public article! You may also want to take a moment to read our new community FAQ page.