Searchable bibliography and conference calendar for researchers, clinicians, trainees in complex trauma and CPTSD/ICD-11 PTSD
To learn more please visit i below; suggest additions to: complextraumasig@gmail.com
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Events relevant to complex trauma, ICD-11 CPTSD, dissociation, and trauma-informed care. Suggest additions: complextraumasig@gmail.com
An overview of the evidence base in complex trauma and ICD-11 CPTSD — scope, growth, and structure of the field's research output.
This bibliography aims to be comprehensive but cannot claim to be exhaustive. References from peripheral fields may be underrepresented. All statistics here reflect only what is currently included in the bibliography.
Many references carry multiple category tags — counts reflect total tag assignments.
Distribution of publication types across all references.
This hub is embedded on the ISTSS website via an iframe. If you notice performance limitations there — such as the tabs or search bar not staying in place while you scroll, scrolling feeling unresponsive, or a floating flag icon overlapping the text — you can instead use the hub's direct subdomain link for a smoother experience: ct.istss.org.
A searchable bibliography and conference calendar for complex trauma and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD, ICD-11 PTSD), maintained by the ISTSS Complex Trauma Special Interest Group (CT SIG).
Researchers, clinicians, and trainees working in complex trauma, as well as interested CPTSD survivors. Researchers can use it to survey the evidence base and locate specific studies; clinicians and trainees can use it to find foundational texts, treatment literature, and assessment tools by searching one database.
The bibliography was founded by Lori Herod, EdD, originally as a plain-text document of about 470 references, kept up to 2021. Scott Uhler, and later then co-chair Philip Katner, continued it afterward.
This searchable, browser-based hub was developed by Dr. Daniela Nicastro and launched 7/2026.
Additional references were identified through database searches of PubMed, PsycNet, the ACEs Hub catalog, and WorldCat/OCLC. Special thanks go to Dr. Christine A. Courtois for generously providing her comprehensive personal bibliography. Batch searches and reviews were AI-assisted (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini).
New references will be added on an ongoing basis (at least quarter-annually). Please send corrections/additions/feedback to: complextraumasig@gmail.com.
The bibliography focuses on literature relevant to complex trauma and ICD-11 Complex PTSD, including work published under earlier or related terminology: e.g. DESNOS, relational trauma, developmental trauma, dissociative identity disorder (DID), and similar constructs from before "complex trauma" and "CPTSD" became the field's standard language. References are included where they speak directly to complex trauma or CPTSD, or where they document phenomena — such as dissociation, disturbances in self-organization, developmental/relational trauma, attachment disruption — that are central to CPTSD's distinctiveness from PTSD.
This is not a general trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), or psychotherapy bibliography.
Where the license terms explicitly allow (e.g., CC BY, CC BY-NC, or U.S. Government public domain works), or the original publisher or author has granted permission, abstracts (where available) are reproduced verbatim, with the applicable license noted at the end of the entry. Where standard copyright applies and reproduction rights haven't been established, we instead provide an independently written executive summary, clearly labeled "Executive summary (not original text)," so it's never mistaken for the publisher's original abstract.
CT SIG Bibliography founded: Lori Herod · Resource Hub developed: Daniela Nicastro
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