Trauma Clinic

Trauma Clinic Treatments*
at the Wilkes-Barre VAMC

If you have an interest in trauma-related psychological treatment please contact your currently assigned VA Primary Care Physician or VA Mental Health Provider. They will send a consult to the Trauma Clinic on your behalf. Trauma Clinic staff will then order a treatment screening appointment, if warranted.

• Screening for Trauma-Related Psychological Treatment
  
  Goals: Assessment of veteran's symptoms and resources to determine if they may benefit from trauma-related treatments. 
  
  
• Post-Deployment Stress Classes
  
  Goals:  Provide veterans education about their trauma-related symptoms, followed by introduction to and practice of skills designed to improve functioning, in common areas of difficulty. Veterans may include family members at specified classes.
  
  
• Group Psychotherapy
  
  Goals: Improve the veteran's coping with mental health symptoms and socialization skills. Current available groups include: Vietnam cohort (3 sections), WWII/Korea.
  
  
• Veteran's Outreach "Returning Home " (monthly)
  
  Goals: Provide veterans and their families new to mental health treatment, information about trauma-related mental health symptoms and treatments.

Trauma-Oriented Treatments:

• Group Psychotherapy - "Post-Deployment Recovery Group"

Goals:

1. address problem thinking and behaviors as they relate to memories of trauma and in daily functioning.

2. socialization/support.

• Individual Psychotherapy

Goals:  Recovery of functioning via establishment of effective coping skills and processing of trauma related memories.

• Uses Evidence Based Treatments (i.e. Prolonged Exposure-PE, Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing-EMDR and/or Cognitive Processing Therapy-CPT)

*Eligibility and placement for all above treatments, except Veteran's Outreach, is determined by Trauma Clinic Psychology staff.

Content Owner:  Dr. Dooley