Traumatic Stress Clinic

The Traumatic Stress Clinic is a tertiary service that provides psychological treatment for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The team has expertise in working with:

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

who are

aged 18+
with a diagnosis of PTSD or complex PTSD, and has experienced multiple traumas (single incident traumas are seen in iCope, see Related Services)
willing and able to talk about the past traumas without becoming overwhelmed and destabilised
PTSD must be the main presenting problem
must have clear intrusive memories/flashbacks specific to or related to the traumatic events (these are the target of the treatment)
sufficiently safe and stable to engage in trauma-focused treatment.

Exclusions

a primary problem of substance abuse (drug and alcohol issues), which is likely to interfere with their treatment
no diagnosis of PTSD, despite evidence of a history of trauma
those too unstable to engage in trauma-focused treatment due to social problems such as homelessness and destitution, failed asylum applications, risk of deportation, severe physical health problems or significant mental health problems such as recurrent self-harm and psychosis (these problems will need to be addressed first before people are stable enough to engage with trauma-focused treatment)
recent involvement with crisis teams or inpatient admission or likely to go into crisis while waiting for treatment (TSC waiting time for treatment is currently up to two years and clients need to be stable enough to tolerate this); the TSC will consider referrals for people who have had a recent crisis if this is a time-limited event with a specific cause which is now resolved, but the service is unable to accept clients with a pattern of repeated crises or self-harm due to extreme difficulty with emotion regulation
those at risk of further trauma, such as domestic violence or involvement in current legal action against alleged perpetrators
those with traumatic histories who do not want to talk about the past and do not want to engage in exposure-based (re-living) treatment
those with less complex PTSD (cluster 1-4) can be seen in iCope (see Related Services).