Assessing Trauma and Providing Treatment

Signs and symptoms of trauma can be hard to recognize, especially in adolescents who may already engage in unhealthy behaviors. Proper assessment of trauma is critical for providing adequate care and treatment. It is important to be observant when assessing adolescents in order to identify behaviors that may point to past trauma or on-going abuse and victimization. In many cases, youth do not feel safe enough to disclose exposure to trauma or victimization. Reasons for making disclosure difficult include:

• they are still in the abusive situation and are isolated from help
• they fear retribution and further abuse will occur
• they fear they will be the cause of breaking up the family
• they feel the abuse was provoked by themselves
• they are insecure and ashamed
• they are embarrassed by their fear
• they feel guilty, thinking their actions caused the traumatic event
• they may be aware of some social stigmas associated with the experience

Assessments specific to trauma can identify risk-behaviors and help to identify the most effective intervention and treatment goals. A trauma assessment involves collecting a thorough history of all trauma events the adolescent has experienced or been exposed to, along with using specific standardized clinical measures to identify types and severity of symptoms.¹ Referrals should be made to an appropriate mental health service professional to provide needed in depth assessment and care for the adolescent.

A number of tools are available for assessing trauma. For a comprehensive list of trauma assessment and screening tools, visit the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress Network’s Measures Review Database (http://www.NCTSN.org/measures). Please note that use of these tools requires training.²

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