Some wounds do not come from one moment but from a long stretch of them, and they hide in plain sight: the reflex to shrink yourself, the trouble believing kindness is real, the way one small thing can flood you completely. A Complex PTSD Evaluation in Elm Grove, WI gives you a careful, honest look at how repeated or prolonged experiences shaped your emotions, relationships, and the story you tell about yourself. You can begin without a referral.
Each evaluation begins from a baseline of cognitive and executive function, giving your psychologist solid ground to stand on, and then it is shaped around your concerns with trauma focused and emotional measures. Because one licensed psychologist handles intake, testing, the report, and feedback, the thread never gets dropped, and related concerns such as depression, dissociation, or anxiety are screened for as part of seeing you fully.
For a child, the work is quiet and patient. Instead of racing toward a diagnosis, we try to understand how continued stress or adversity has touched their sense of safety, and we pay close attention to what steadies them and helps them trust again. Their comfort leads the way.
In a teen, this can look like emotions that spike beyond what a situation seems to call for, a self image that is either harsh or unsettled, and a wariness about getting close to anyone. Seen in the light of their history, these are not flaws in character; they are understandable adaptations.
As an adult, you might live with a steady undercurrent of shame or a feeling of never quite measuring up. Regulating your emotions can be a daily effort, trust and closeness can feel unsafe, and a background sense of threat may follow you, its effects showing up across many parts of your life at once.
Everything starts with an interview of about an hour in which your psychologist gathers a careful personal history, unhurried and in a space meant to feel safe. Complex PTSD usually takes root in experiences that happened again and again or lasted a long time, so this conversation covers a broader span of your life to understand how it shaped your emotions, your relationships, and how you regard yourself. You are always the one setting the pace.
Next, your psychologist selects a personalized battery designed to reach the layered effects of complex trauma. Testing typically involves 2 to 6 hours in person over one to two days. You will also take self report questionnaires home, and someone close to you is welcome to complete their own if you both wish. If any sign of another condition appears, such as anxiety, depression, dissociation, or ADHD, that area gets screened as well.
All of the results, the test data, the clinical observations, and the questionnaires, come together in a thorough diagnostic report. Your psychologist assesses how complex trauma has affected your emotional regulation, your identity, your relationships, and your thinking, and every co occurring condition is documented so the picture is whole.
About two to three weeks after testing, you return for a feedback session. Your psychologist talks you through the diagnosis plainly and offers recommendations shaped for you: specialized trauma therapy options, ways to steady your emotions, relationship support, and clear next steps for the healing ahead.
No. Being seen at Core Spring Diagnostics never depends on a referral. You are free to contact us directly, for whatever reason brings you here, and to start when it feels right.
Complex PTSD generally comes from trauma that was repeated or prolonged and can affect your self image, emotion regulation, and relationships across the board, while PTSD tends to follow one specific event. The evaluation exists in part to clarify which of these is really at play for you.
A trauma informed clinical interview, a cognitive and executive function baseline, trauma focused and emotional measures, and screening for concerns that often accompany complex trauma, all led by one psychologist who keeps the pace respectful of you.
Yes, we see both teens and adults. With younger clients especially, we approach trauma related patterns gently and without any rush to name things prematurely.
A plain language report along with a feedback session that gives you individualized, trauma informed recommendations and a clear path toward healing you can start on.
Give us a call at (414) 387-2100 and we will arrange a time that suits you. No referral is required, and there is nothing you need to sort out in advance.
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