To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide about diagnosing and treating PTSD.

View the media Presentation Example: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and assess the client in the case study.

For guidance on assessing the client, refer to Chapter 3 of the Wheeler text.

Note: To complete this Assignment, you must assess the client, but you are not required to submit a formal comprehensive client assessment.

The Assignment

Succinctly, in 1–2 pages, address the following:

Briefly explain the neurobiological basis for PTSD illness.

Discuss the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD and relate these criteria to the symptomology presented in the case study. Does the video case presentation provide sufficient information to derive a PTSD diagnosis? Justify your reasoning. Do you agree with the other diagnoses in the case presentation? Why or why not?

Discuss one other psychotherapy treatment option for the client in this case study. Explain whether your treatment option is considered a “gold standard treatment” from a clinical practice guideline perspective, and why using gold standard, evidence-based treatments from clinical practice guidelines is important for psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners.