PTSD & Trauma treatment in Texas
Telehealth psychiatric care for adults — based in Austin, serving patients statewide.
Trauma is not a character flaw. PTSD is a nervous-system response to events that overwhelmed your capacity to cope — your brain and body learned to stay on high alert to keep you safe, and those protective patterns can outlast the danger. PTSD, complex trauma (cPTSD) from prolonged or repeated harm, acute stress reactions in the weeks after an event, and the broader range of trauma reactions all live on a spectrum. They deserve different pacing and different care.
Our approach is trauma-informed: you control the pacing, there is no forced exposure, and we pay close attention to nervous-system regulation before anything else. We also hold a culturally responsive lens — racial trauma, medical mistrust, immigration stress, and intergenerational trauma are part of the clinical picture, not separate from it.
Signs you may benefit from treatment
- Intrusive memories or unwanted thoughts about the event
- Flashbacks or feeling like the trauma is happening again
- Nightmares or disturbed sleep
- Avoidance of people, places, or reminders of what happened
- Hypervigilance — scanning for danger, hard to relax
- Exaggerated startle response
- Difficulty falling or staying asleep
- Irritability, anger, or a short fuse
- Dissociation, feeling unreal, or zoning out
- Emotional numbness or feeling cut off from yourself
- Shame, guilt, or self-blame about what happened
- Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in relationships
- Somatic symptoms like chronic pain, GI issues, or tension
- Using alcohol or substances to cope or quiet the system
How Eki Mental Health PLLC treats ptsd & trauma
Trauma-informed psychiatric care rests on four principles: safety, choice, collaboration, and pacing. We start with a comprehensive evaluation that you control — you choose what to share and when. Medication can meaningfully help with sleep, hyperarousal, and mood, but medication does not "cure" trauma. Resolution typically comes from trauma-focused therapy, and we strongly recommend pairing meds with that work when you are ready.
We collaborate with trusted Austin trauma therapists trained in EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), and Trauma-Focused CBT. We coordinate care, share goals (with your consent), and stay in the supporting role on the medication side while your therapist holds the deeper trauma work. We go at your pace.
Treatment options
Medication options. Medication for PTSD aims to lower the volume on hyperarousal, support sleep, and stabilize mood so the rest of the work becomes possible. Common options include:
- SSRIs — sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil) are FDA-approved for PTSD; escitalopram (Lexapro) and fluoxetine (Prozac) are commonly used off-label
- Prazosin for trauma-related nightmares — often very effective
- Short-term sleep support when insomnia is severe
- Propranolol used pre-emptively before known triggering events
- Benzodiazepines are not first-line for PTSD — evidence shows they can worsen long-term outcomes and interfere with trauma processing. We will explain why and walk through alternatives
Therapy referrals. Trauma resolution is largely therapy-led. We refer to trusted Austin trauma therapists trained in:
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
- Internal Family Systems (IFS)
- Somatic Experiencing
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
- Prolonged Exposure (PE)
- Trauma-Focused CBT
- Sensorimotor Psychotherapy
Nervous-system regulation. Before and alongside trauma processing, we attend to the nervous system itself: protected sleep, somatic practices, polyvagal-informed support, body-based work, paced breathing, and grounding skills you can actually reach for in a hard moment. Regulation is not a bypass — it is the foundation that makes the harder work survivable.
What to expect at your first visit
Your first visit is a 60–90 minute evaluation, and we move at your pace. You choose what to share. We screen for safety, current symptoms, sleep, and comorbidities like depression, anxiety, and substance use. We will ask about prior trauma history at the level you determine — you will not be forced to recount detailed trauma narratives at intake, and you can pause or skip anything that feels like too much.
By the end of the visit we will have a plan together — what to focus on first, whether medication makes sense, and whom to connect you with for therapy if you do not already have someone.
Optional: GeneSight pharmacogenomic testing
If you'd like, we can order GeneSight at your first visit — a simple cheek-swab genetic test that analyzes how your body metabolizes psychiatric medications and provides a clinician-facing report to guide prescribing.
Benefits:
- Reduces medication trial-and-error by predicting which medications you're likely to tolerate well
- Identifies medications you may metabolize too quickly (less effective) or too slowly (more side effects)
- Especially useful if you've had a hard time tolerating medications in the past or first-line options haven't worked
- Covers 60+ psychiatric medications — antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics, ADHD meds
- One-time test — your genes don't change, so results stay relevant for life and follow you to future prescribers
- Non-invasive cheek swab; results typically return within 2–3 days
Entirely optional — we only order it if you want it. Insurance coverage varies; we'll review cost and coverage with you before ordering.
Insurance & cost
In-network with Aetna and UnitedHealthcare / Optum; most insured patients pay $20–$60 per visit after benefits. Self-pay rates: $400 initial evaluation, $250 standard follow-up. Superbill provided for out-of-network reimbursement. Full pricing & insurance details →