Medication management for post-traumatic stress by video, at a pace that feels safe, coordinated with trauma-focused therapy. You don’t have to retell every detail to get help.
Tyler Patten, APRN, PMHNP-BC — board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner
Book Now →After a trauma, it’s normal to feel shaken for a while. PTSD is when the threat response doesn’t settle back down: nightmares or flashbacks, avoiding people and places that bring it back, feeling constantly on guard, startling easily, sleeping badly, and feeling numb or cut off from people you care about. It can follow combat, assault, an accident, medical trauma, childhood experiences or the cumulative stress of first-responder and healthcare work.
PTSD responds well to treatment, but access is uneven. Utah, Idaho and Nevada all have too few psychiatric prescribers and even fewer trauma-trained therapists, and many rural communities have none nearby. For people whose trauma makes waiting rooms, long drives or new places hard, that gap is even wider.
Video visits let you start treatment from somewhere you already feel safe.
Nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance and constant alertness lasting more than a month after a trauma.
Long-running effects of repeated or early trauma on mood, relationships and sense of safety.
Sleep broken by recurring nightmares, often the symptom people want help with first.
Cumulative exposure to traumatic events through work.
Very common combinations that are treated together.
Support and treatment when symptoms are new and still taking shape.
We go at your pace. I need to understand how trauma is affecting you now, not every detail of what happened. I also look at sleep, alcohol and other substances, physical health, stress and support, because they shape how PTSD shows up and how well treatment works.
Medication can meaningfully reduce PTSD symptoms. The best-studied options are SSRIs such as sertraline and paroxetine, and the SNRI venlafaxine. Prazosin can help with trauma-related nightmares. The strongest results come from pairing medication with trauma-focused therapy such as CPT, prolonged exposure or EMDR, and I’ll help you find a therapist, including telehealth options.
I don’t prescribe benzodiazepines or other controlled substances. They don’t treat PTSD, they can interfere with trauma therapy, and they carry real risks of dependence. If you’re already taking one, we can talk about a plan.
You need to be physically located in one of these states during each video visit.
Utah’s trauma-focused care is concentrated along the Wasatch Front. For people elsewhere in the state, video visits and telehealth therapy make treatment reachable.
With the fewest psychiatrists per person in the country, Idaho has very limited trauma-informed psychiatric care outside Boise. We see adults anywhere in the state.
Nevada’s first responders, healthcare workers and shift workers carry a lot of cumulative stress. Flexible early and evening appointments make it easier to keep treatment going.
Further reading:
Book a 60-minute evaluation with Tyler Patten, PMHNP-BC. Most new patients are seen within two weeks.
Book Now →Questions first? Call or text (435) 625-3098 or email office@affordablepsych.org.