Trauma Assessments

Book excerpt: This book is intended for clinicians at all levels of experience who seek a guide to the assessment of psychological trauma and its effects. After discussion of the theoretical foundation for understanding human responses to traumatic events, Dr. Carlson addresses both conceptual and practical aspects of selecting and administering measures to assess traumatic experiences and trauma responses. Additional chapters provide guidance in interpreting results of assessments and diagnosing trauma-related disorders and a brief introduction to major forms of treatment of trauma-related disorders. Profiles of 36 recommended measures of traumatic experiences and trauma responses are included and are designed to make it easy to find the information needed to obtain the measures. Measures profiled include self-report and interview measures of trauma, self-report measures of trauma responses, structured interviews for posttraumatic and dissociative disorders, and measures for children and adolescents. Flowcharts provide a quick reference for choosing measures at each stage of the assessment process.