Trauma-Informed Integrated Care Settings: The Role of the Mental Health Counselor

Abstract

Most individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health problems first present in primary care settings, often for seemingly unrelated general medical problems. It is likely that individuals with PTSD will seek treatment for their physical health problems at primary care clinics, making primary care offices de facto mental health care settings. Integrated behavioral health care is a unification between mental health services and medical services with the intention of providing a patient with holistic treatment. Integrated care can provide the opportunity to detect PTSD in patients and provide trauma-informed mental health care. Evidence-based stabilization techniques are greatly needed in integrated care settings where trauma-related mental disorders are highly prevalent. The purpose of this article is to review integrated care, highlight the effects of trauma, and provide trauma-informed techniques to treat the mental health consequences of trauma in an integrated care setting.