The Traumatic Stress Service is a specialist multidisciplinary service, offering assessment psychological therapy and medication reviews for people aged 18 and older, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex PTSD.
The team is normally made up of
The service accepts referrals from the primary mental health support service and secondary mental health services in the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board catchment area, following an initial mental health assessment by one of these teams. Once a referral is received, we will usually offer a further specialist assessment to determine if we are likely to be able to help, or if we can offer advice about other types of help that might be needed. We are happy to arrange appointments with interpreters for individuals when required.
The service offers two types of evidence-based therapies for PTSD:
Our service works very closely with Traumatic Stress Wales, a Welsh Government funded initiative which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people with PTSD or complex PTSD across Wales. A number of helpful resources can be found on the Traumatic Stress Wales website. The service also aims to work closely with researchers to help develop more understanding about the effects of trauma and to help develop more effective treatments for PTSD and complex PTSD. Service members are part of Cardiff University’s Traumatic Stress Research Group and also work closely with the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH). NCMH has a number of helpful leaflets for people with PTSD and other mental health related difficulties here.
Veterans seeking support for PTSD or other mental health difficulties can access help directly through Veterans NHS Wales.