Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event develops PTSD, and not everyone dealing with the effects of trauma meets the full diagnostic criteria for the disorder. PTSD is a specific clinical syndrome characterized by intrusive re-experiencing of the trauma, persistent avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, negative changes in cognition and mood, and marked alterations in arousal and reactivity. A trauma response that does not meet all of these criteria may still cause significant impairment and warrant clinical treatment. The distinction matters because the treatment approach for full PTSD differs from what is most effective for subclinical trauma responses or for the diffuse effects of chronic early trauma.
Dr. Steinbok's clinical assessment at his Boca Raton practice involves establishing which of these presentations a patient is dealing with before determining the treatment approach. Patients who arrive having self-identified as having PTSD based on general reading or prior brief treatment may have a more complex picture than a single diagnosis accounts for. Equally, patients who do not think of themselves as trauma survivors may be carrying significant traumatic material that has been organizing their difficulties without being recognized as such. A thorough assessment by a trauma psychologist in Boca Raton is the only reliable way to establish what is actually present and what the most appropriate treatment path looks like.
