Maybe you learned long ago to make yourself small, to read a room before you relax, to apologize for taking up space. Years of hard things can teach those habits, and they are worth understanding. A Complex PTSD Evaluation in Lake Geneva, WI helps you see clearly what shaped you, and you can begin without any referral.
The process starts from a baseline of cognitive and executive function and then folds in emotional and trauma focused measures matched to your story. A single licensed psychologist stays with the whole evaluation, and we deliberately screen for the conditions that often accompany complex trauma so the full picture comes into view.
With children we pay attention to how sustained stress or adversity is affecting them, holding off on labels while we understand their world. Much of the focus lands on what makes them feel protected and how to build more of those steadying moments into daily life.
For teens, watch for emotions that run hot then vanish, a self image that turns sharp and critical, and a pull away from connection even when they crave it. What can read as attitude often fits neatly with the experiences they have survived.
Adults often describe a steady hum of unworthiness, feelings that are hard to steer, and closeness that feels risky. A sense of being unsafe can linger long after any threat is gone, and its reach spreads into relationships, work, and how you move through an ordinary day.
Your evaluation opens with roughly an hour of talking, during which your psychologist collects a full personal history in a space designed to feel supportive. Complex trauma tends to build from experiences that recurred, so this conversation reaches across a longer timeline to understand how it has shaped your regulation, your relationships, and your view of yourself. Nothing is rushed.
Your psychologist chooses a personalized battery meant to reveal the many layers complex trauma leaves behind. Expect about 2 to 6 hours of in person testing spread over one or two days. Questionnaires go home with you, a close family member or friend may complete their own, and any signs of dissociation, anxiety, depression, or ADHD are screened along the way.
Everything gathered, the test scores, the clinical observations, the questionnaire responses, is drawn together into a thorough diagnostic report. Your psychologist examines how complex trauma has shaped emotional regulation, identity, relationships, and cognition, and records any co occurring conditions so the picture is whole.
About two to three weeks after testing, you return to talk it through. Your psychologist explains the diagnosis in plain terms and lays out individualized recommendations, from specialized trauma therapy and regulation strategies to relationship resources and clear next steps built around your recovery.
Not at all. A referral is never required to be seen at Core Spring Diagnostics. You are free to contact us directly, on your own timing and for any reason.
Complex PTSD generally traces back to trauma that was prolonged or repeated and reshapes self image, emotion regulation, and relationships more widely, whereas PTSD often centers on one specific event. Your evaluation sorts out which fits you.
It combines a trauma informed interview, a cognitive and executive function baseline, trauma focused and emotional measures, and screening for related concerns, all guided by one psychologist and paced to feel safe.
Yes. Teens and adults are both welcome, and for younger clients we handle trauma related patterns with extra gentleness and care.
You leave with a plain language report and a feedback session offering individualized, trauma informed recommendations and a clear route toward healing.
Reach us at (414) 387-2100. We will match you with a time and walk through any questions before you decide on anything.
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