Differential Diagnosis for Trauma Exposure

While exposure to trauma is very common, the ways in which individuals may be impacted vary widely. Given that many therapy clients may have a history of trauma exposure, the strategic and skillful differential assessment of post-trauma symptoms is a bedrock of effective treatment planning and appropriate therapy selection. This course provides essential tools for sensitive, empathic and efficient evaluation of trauma-related symptoms and difficulties. This course helps participants to distinguish between Criterion A traumatic events and other types of stressors that clients may report. This course reviews the most common clinical sequelae and symptoms that can follow trauma exposure, and clarifies the edges of the most common differential diagnoses using current diagnostic criteria to facilitate the development of an accurate clinical picture. Clinical vignettes and examples will be used to illustrate how to discern between diagnoses in complex cases. In addition, this course provides recommendations for effective standardized assessment tools with robust psychometric properties (i.e. Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5, Life Events Checklist for DSM-5, and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 that will enhance and facilitate clinical interviewing.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Apply at least two effective and well-validated clinical measures to assist in evaluation of post-trauma clinical symptoms

• Identify at least three differences between Criterion A traumatic events and non-Criterion A stressors

• Differentiate between at least 5 common post-trauma mental health diagnoses

To receive credit, participants must watch the recording in full and pass the associated homestudy test.