This program offers individual treatment for people who have experienced a traumatic event in adulthood more than one month ago and continue to experience post-traumatic stress reactions that cause-distress and interfere with daily functioning. 

To be eligible for this treatment program you need to have experienced post-traumatic stress reactions for longer than one month after the event.

As with our other treatment programs, this program is based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). Many international studies have concluded that this form of treatment is the best treatment for PTSD. The aim of this study is to examine new ways of enhancing existing CBT treatments.

After a traumatic event, many people experience changes in the way they see themselves and the world. This is often accompanied by feeling “low” or “flat” and/or losing interest in the things that usually bring joy. We have found that sometimes, these changes continue to impact people’s lives in significant ways even after completing CBT, regardless of whether they continue to meet criteria for PTSD. One reason for this is that trauma focused therapy does not always explicitly target the reduction of symptoms related to altered mood. We are trying to address this gap by investigating whether incorporating activities targeted towards increasing positive mood, as an adjunct to CBT, will be more effective for improving overall wellbeing and reducing PTSD symptoms for PTSD suffers than CBT alone.

The current treatment program involves 11 weekly one-on-one sessions with an experienced clinical psychologist, each lasting approximately 1 ½ hours. In the context of COVID-19, we are now also providing assessments and therapy via Telehealth (video call). If you are interested in accessing our services in person at one of our Sydney clinics, you must first present evidence of double vaccination status.

Because of the strong language component of the treatment, people who wish to participate in this treatment must be able to do so in English.

Unfortunately, because of the limitations of our research, we are unable to provide treatment for childhood trauma or trauma related to domestic violence. 

If you are seeking treatment for childhood trauma, please contact the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. 

If you are seeking treatment for domestic violence, please contact the Domestic Violence Line on 1800 656 463.

 

If you think you can be helped by this program:

Contact the Traumatic Stress Clinic, and a telephone interview will be arranged. You will be asked some questions about your trauma exposure and the problems you are seeking help for. This interview should take approximately 30 minutes. If we think this program is right for you, we will proceed with a full assessment and then commence the program.

If you feel like you need treatment, but you are unsure whether this program will be appropriate for you, please feel free to contact us for further information or referral options.

The government funds the clinic with research grants in order to investigate treatments for post-traumatic stress and grief. This enables us to provide a free, specialist service.

More information about PTSD can be found here.