Trauma Specialist Needed: Southern California, Usa

[woundedmind]

Hi I need a recommendation for a good diagnostician of emotional/mental trauma disorders who is well versed with disability claims reports and testifying. I have various mental health diagnoses from different doctors, but none comprehensive. I have minimal disability payments that are fairly long term but not as much as if the dots were connected to where my condition was worsened and basically remained fairly bad beyond that on a chronic basis, which was during my military service but not in combat but from long term sexual harassment & hostile work and living environment.

I didn't even know that there was a name for what happened to me beyond subjective terms like help, emotional torture, etc. The Veterans Administration finally admitted the existence of what they termed Military Sexual Trauma. Yet they fail to understand that when your persecutors are servicemembers you don't want to be reminded of that environment and be surrounded with people that look and act like those who victimized you, that just walking through the door causes severe anxiety, determined opening yourself up to talk about your mistreatment at the hands of people that are just like those in the group.

 

[Ted Moen]

The Palo Alto VA, Menlo Park Campus (National Center For PTSD) used (5-6 years ago) to have a section for female veterans who were victums of sexual trauma in the military. I haven't been in contact with them the last few years so I don't know if it's still there. If it is, you need to be referred to it by your current VA therapist and be free of drugs and alcohol. The therapists there are very good.

Ted

 

[woundedmind]

I really dislike going to the VA as the quality of care really varies drastically. Getting 1-on-1 therapy is very difficult and seems relegated to seeing interns for up to 3 months. The group therapy was also a bad experience as it was filled with non-empathic people that actually made me feel like I was back among my abusers again. I gave it almost two years to hopefully do some good, but just ruined what little self esteem I had regained and stirred up a lot of suicidal thoughts, which I acted upon and the supposedly safe environment was not.

Suffice it to say, I do not have a VA therapist and do not want to return there again for that. My experience is that they are either clueless, incompetent uncaring or worst of all have counter transference issues where they try to screw with your head because they have issues with their father who was a veteran. Others have found a niche where they can screw with others and have a relatively consequence-free environment for their atrocious behavior.

On the PTSD screening the only symptom I was not positive for is nightmares, but considering that a sleep study on me determined I had a whopping 90 seconds of non-continuous REM sleep during a period of 8 hours. I don't have dreams, period, anymore.