#5 Neuroscience Reveals Freud’s Legacy in Understanding Complex Trauma | Psychology Doesn’t Heal Complex Trauma Series

In the ongoing quest to understand and heal complex trauma, we find ourselves at a revisiting modern neuroscience and the pioneering ideas of early psychological thinkers like Sigmund Freud. While Freud’s theories about the human psyche were groundbreaking in their time, they have often been dismissed or overlooked in contemporary trauma treatments. However, recent advancements in neuroscience are beginning to validate many of Freud’s predictions—particularly his ideas about unconscious drives and the deeper forces that shape our behaviors and consciousness.

In this article, we delve into how the work of Freud, combined with modern neuroscientific discoveries from pioneers such as Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, provides a more profound understanding of complex trauma. We will explore the limitations of current trauma treatments, especially within the confines of the DSM-5, and highlight how neuroscience is beginning to confirm Freud's legacy.

By bridging these two fields of neuroscience and Freud’s analytical psychology, we can uncover a clearer path to healing that takes into account the instinctual drives, unconscious material, and the complexities of trauma that are often missed in traditional psychological approaches.

Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk: Pioneers Facing Systemic Limitations in Treating Complex Trauma

Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk are two of the most respected voices in the field of complex trauma (C-PTSD), having devoted much of their careers to understanding the profound impact of early childhood trauma on the brain and body. Both have made significant contributions to our understanding of the neuroscience of trauma, shedding light on how early adverse experiences can shape a person’s emotional, psychological, and physical health throughout their lives.

Dr. Maté, known for his work on the mind-body connection, has focused on how trauma, particularly in childhood, leads to conditions such as addiction, mental illness, and chronic health problems. Dr. van der Kolk, a psychiatrist and trauma researcher, has been instrumental in highlighting how trauma disrupts brain functioning and development, making it difficult for individuals to process and regulate their emotions.

However, despite their groundbreaking research and profound insights into complex trauma, both Dr. Maté and Dr. van der Kolk encounter limitations when it comes to providing clear and effective treatment solutions. These limitations are largely due to the constraints imposed by the DSM-5, the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals. While the DSM-5 has helped standardize diagnosis and treatment, its framework still relies on categorizing symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of trauma.

Both experts struggle to offer treatment methods that fully address the complexities of trauma, as they are working within a paradigm that does not yet fully incorporate the most recent scientific understandings of trauma and healing. This gap in the current medical framework prevents many individuals from receiving the deep, transformative healing they need, because the right questions are not being asked when designing therapies.

The Limitations of DSM-5 in Treating Complex Trauma

The current approaches to treating complex trauma are limited by an outdated framework, particularly the DSM-5, which continues to shape the way trauma is understood and diagnosed. While the DSM-5 has been instrumental in creating a standardized method for diagnosing mental health conditions, it falls short when it comes to recognizing the complexity of trauma, especially complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Experts in the field, such as Dr. Gabor Maté and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, often find themselves working within the confines of this narrow model, which limits their ability to address trauma at its core.

One key issue is that the DSM-5 focuses primarily on symptoms rather than underlying causes. For instance, the DSM-5 treats PTSD as a condition stemming from a single, identifiable traumatic event, but fails to account for the prolonged, developmental trauma that forms the basis of complex trauma. As a result, professionals are often diagnosing individuals based on isolated symptoms, rather than considering the broader, systemic impacts of developmental trauma and its lasting effects. This symptom-based approach does not encourage the kind of deep, comprehensive healing needed to address the root causes of trauma.

By adhering to the DSM-5 framework, professionals are also constrained in their ability to ask the right questions. Instead of focusing on the interconnectedness of psychological, emotional, and physiological trauma, the DSM-5 encourages a fragmented approach that fails to capture the full scope of complex trauma. This paradigm ultimately stifles progress in developing more effective and holistic treatments that could provide lasting relief and healing for individuals suffering from the long-term effects of complex trauma. Without a paradigm shift that embraces the latest neuroscience, trauma theories, and the ineffable characteristics of the psyche (Soul), the true potential for understanding and healing complex trauma remains limited within the medical field.

Freud’s Predictions and Neuroscience

Freud’s theories, which have long been a cornerstone of psychological thought, are increasingly being validated by modern neuroscience, especially when it comes to his ideas about instinctual drives. Freud famously identified two core instincts that shape human consciousness: the death instinct (Thanatos) and the sex instinct (Eros). These drives, he believed, were fundamental forces that govern much of human behavior and emotional life. While Freud’s work was often criticized for being speculative, contemporary neuroscience is beginning to support and expand upon his theories in ways that were previously unimaginable.

One of Freud’s most prescient predictions was that as science progressed, we would uncover additional instincts beyond just those related to survival and reproduction. He suggested that the complexity of human behavior and consciousness could not be fully explained by just the death and sex instincts alone. Neuroscience is now starting to confirm Freud’s intuition by identifying a broader range of instinctual drives that influence human behavior and mental health. Researchers like Jaak Panksepp, who studied the emotional brain, have expanded on Freud’s ideas by identifying seven primary emotional systems—instincts such as the SEEKING system, the CARE system, and the FEAR system—that shape our behavior and our sense of self.

These findings are particularly relevant when it comes to understanding complex trauma. The unacknowledged or suppressed instincts and drives that Freud described are often disrupted or distorted by early trauma, particularly developmental trauma or complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Neuroscience is revealing that these early disruptions in instinctual drives—such as the failure of attachment or the undermining of emotional regulation—can have profound long-term effects on the psyche, echoing Freud’s ideas about the powerful role of unconscious drives in shaping our consciousness.

Freud's foresight, when viewed through the lens of modern neuroscience, helps us understand the biological basis for many of the emotional and psychological patterns seen in complex trauma, further reinforcing the need for a deeper, more integrated approach to healing.

The Pankseppian Instincts

The Pankseppian instincts, identified by neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp, are fundamental to understanding the neural and emotional processes that underlie complex trauma (C-PTSD). Through pioneering brain research, Panksepp uncovered seven core emotional-action command systems that serve as the building blocks of our emotional and behavioral responses. These instincts are the primary-process systems that shape our experience of the world and guide how we react to stimuli in our environment. Panksepp identified these instincts as SEEKING, FEAR, RAGE, LUST, CARE, PANIC, and PLAY—each of which plays a vital role in human survival and emotional regulation.

What makes these instincts particularly important is their profound connection to the very essence of human consciousness and existence. By exploring these primary emotional systems, we gain insights into the ontological foundations of consciousness itself. In other words, the Pankseppian instincts help explain the underlying mechanisms that govern human behavior and emotionality, offering a window into the primal forces shaping thoughts, feelings, and actions. This understanding is critical because it offers a deeper look at the nature of being and how emotional systems are at the core of what it means to be alive.

In the context of complex trauma, these instincts become distorted or trapped within the trauma-affected psyche. When trauma occurs during critical developmental stages, especially in childhood, these instinctual systems become overwhelmed and often malfunction, leading to long-term emotional and psychological challenges. The concept of Malignant Complexes builds on the Pankseppian instincts by showing how unconscious material related to these distorted emotional systems can significantly impact behavior and consciousness. Malignant Complexes are psychological structures that form as defense mechanisms against overwhelming experiences, but they often distort the individual’s self-concept and emotional responses.

By understanding the Pankseppian instincts and how they relate to complex trauma, we begin to see that human emotional and behavioral struggles are not just psychological or cognitive issues, but deeply rooted in the brain's wiring and instinctual drives. This knowledge provides a powerful lens for addressing neurotic disorders, promoting personal development, and improving emotional well-being. It also challenges the dominance of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in psychology and medicine, highlighting the crucial role of our instinctual affect drives in shaping mental health and life experiences. Addressing these drives and their distortions is essential for healing trauma and facilitating genuine psychological growth.

Unconscious Material of Complexes and Modern Psychology

In contemporary psychology, particularly in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), there is often a significant oversight regarding unconscious material and the underlying mechanisms that drive the ego. CBT, while effective at addressing surface-level symptoms of mental health issues, primarily focuses on the cognitive aspects of thought patterns, behaviors, and emotional responses. It aims to help individuals identify and modify distorted thinking, which can indeed provide relief for some psychological conditions. However, this approach tends to overlook the deeper, instinctual layers of the psyche that play a pivotal role in shaping a person's behavior and emotional reactions, especially in the context of trauma.

Jean Piaget’s work on the theory of complexes and his contributions to analytical psychology provide an essential framework for understanding these unconscious mechanisms. Complexes, as defined by Piaget and further developed by Carl Jung, are unconscious, organized patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that arise as a result of early experiences, particularly traumatic ones.

These complexes function as defense mechanisms, protecting the individual from overwhelming emotions or experiences. However, in the case of complex trauma, these complexes often become maladaptive, entrenching the individual in self-limiting behaviors, distorted self-concept, and emotional dysregulation.

Unlike CBT, which often targets symptoms directly without considering their deeper roots, understanding and addressing these complexes is critical for healing complex trauma. The unconscious material housed in these complexes dictates many of the patterns in our thoughts and behaviors, including how we relate to ourselves and others. Trauma leaves behind a residue of these unconscious patterns, which can perpetuate cycles of suffering, emotional instability, and relational dysfunction if not properly addressed.

To truly understand the root causes of trauma, it is necessary to move beyond top-down symptom-focused therapies and explore the unconscious drivers of behavior. By integrating insights from analytical psychology and affective neuroscience, which delves into the structures of the psyche, we can better identify the malignant complexes that emerge from unresolved trauma. This approach opens the door for more holistic and effective healing, where the ego can be freed from the grip of these destructive complexes, allowing for greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and authentic interpersonal connections.

Without acknowledging and working through these unconscious structures, modern psychology falls short in treating the deep, lasting effects of complex trauma. The missing piece in contemporary therapeutic practices is the recognition that trauma is not just a series of symptoms to be fixed, but a deeply embedded psychic structure that requires more than just conscious thought alteration (e.g.: reframing). It calls for a comprehensive approach that addresses both the conscious and unconscious layers of the self to truly heal and integrate past wounds.