Assessment, Formulation and Treatment Planning for PTSD

A self-paced course exploring evidence-based approaches to assessment, formulation and treatment planning for clients with trauma-related mental health conditions. Competence in this domain helps clinicians achieve better outcomes for their clients, and supports the use of evidence-based treatments such as Trauma-Focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

While resilience in the face of trauma is common, some people experience mental health difficulties as a consequence. These difficulties might be short-lived, with people recovering through their own coping strategies and the support of those around them. At other times people develop mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, substance use problems or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This range of responses challenges us, as mental health clinicians, to employ effective and evidence-based practices to achieve the best outcomes for our clients.

This course will guide you in the use of reliable, evidence-based assessment methods and measures, help you make accurate diagnoses, and identify your clients' most prominent and troubling symptoms. It will support you in the development of case formulations and treatment plans designed to address the individual needs of your clients, and help you track progress over time. This course will also encourage you to consider the importance of applying a trauma-informed lens to everything you do.

By completing this course, you will: 

• Become familiar with a range of trauma-informed strategies that you can apply to your clinical work,
• Acquire an understanding of the purposes of, methods and measures recommended in the assessment of trauma-impacted individuals,
• Develop individualised case formulations based on information gathered during assessment, and 
• Develop formulation-driven treatment plans. 

This course sits partway through a sequence on treating PTSD with Trauma-focussed CBT. It is preceded by a course on understanding PTSD, and followed by two more on understanding and implementing Trauma-focussed CBT.