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:

• traumatised refugees and asylum-seekers
• survivors of childhood abuse
• torture survivors
• victims of trafficking and veterans.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

• residents of Camden and Islington/registered with a GP in Camden or Islington
• aged 18+
• diagnosis of PTSD or complex PTSD and has experienced multiple traumas (single incident traumas are seen in iCope)
• 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 (the clinic's waiting time for treatment is currently up to two years and patients need to be stable enough to tolerate this); the clinic 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 those 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.

How to Refer

Locations

St Pancras Hospital