Condition · Texas
Trauma Care in Texas
Trauma is the lasting effect of an overwhelming experience on how you sleep, react, trust, and feel in your body. Many trauma responses never meet PTSD criteria and still deserve treatment. Lyte Psychiatry assesses trauma and matches care to what you are actually carrying.
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Akinwande Akintola, MD · Last reviewed July 2026 · Next review January 2027
Understanding trauma
Trauma is a response, not an event. Two people can go through the same accident and have entirely different outcomes depending on prior history, support afterwards, and what the experience meant to them. That is why the assessment asks about aftermath as much as about incident.
Not every trauma response is a disorder. A significant proportion of people recover with time, support, and sleep. Treatment matters most when the response is entrenched, when avoidance is expanding, or when the effects are showing up as depression, substance use, or physical symptoms.
Trauma-informed care is a way of working rather than a technique. In practice it means pacing disclosure, explaining what happens before it happens, and never requiring a full account of the worst event before support begins.
Symptoms and when to seek an evaluation
- Intrusive memories, images, or nightmares
- Feeling constantly on guard or startling easily
- Numbness, detachment, or feeling far away from yourself
- Avoiding reminders, conversations, or places
- Sleep that never fully settles
- Irritability, tension, or reactions that feel out of proportion afterwards
Seek an evaluation when these symptoms have lasted for weeks, are getting worse, or are affecting your work, sleep, or relationships. If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 now.
What your first visit involves
- What happened, only to the level of detail needed for a treatment plan
- Timeline of symptoms since the event, including what has already improved
- Screening for full PTSD, complex PTSD, acute stress disorder, and adjustment disorder
- Current safety, including ongoing exposure to the source of the trauma
First appointments run longer than follow-ups so there is time to take a full history. You leave with a working diagnosis, a plan, and a follow-up date rather than a prescription and no explanation.
Therapy, psychiatry, and combined care
- Stabilisation first: sleep, grounding, and routine before any processing work
- Trauma-focused therapy when the response is entrenched or expanding
- Medication for sleep disruption, hyperarousal, or co-occurring depression
- Psychoeducation so the symptoms stop feeling like personal failure
- Referral to specialist trauma programmes when a higher intensity of care is indicated
Therapy and psychiatry are delivered in-house by clinicians licensed in Texas and share one chart, so a prescriber and a therapist working with you are looking at the same notes. Many people do best with both.
What we do not treat here
- Lyte does not provide EMDR in-house; we explain it and coordinate referral where indicated
- We do not offer inpatient, residential, or intensive outpatient trauma programmes
- Forensic evaluations and legal documentation of trauma are outside our scope
Care options at Lyte
Clinicians who provide this care
Insurance and cost
Lyte is in network with several Texas plans, and coverage depends on your specific plan and benefits. We verify your benefits before the first visit so you know your expected cost in advance. See which plans we accept.
Frequently asked questions
Does my experience count as trauma?
If it overwhelmed your ability to cope at the time and is still affecting how you sleep, react, or relate to people, it is worth assessing. Clinicians do not rank experiences before deciding whether someone deserves help.
Do I have to describe what happened?
Not in detail, and not at the first visit. An initial assessment needs enough to plan treatment safely. Detailed processing only happens later, with your consent, in a therapy designed for it.
Is trauma the same as PTSD?
No. PTSD is a specific diagnosis with defined criteria and duration. Many trauma responses fall short of those criteria and still benefit from treatment; naming the difference determines which therapy is offered.
Does Lyte offer EMDR?
Not in-house. Our therapists work from CBT and trauma-informed frameworks. When EMDR is indicated, we explain what it involves and coordinate a referral rather than approximating it.
Sources
Related conditions
- PTSD: the full diagnostic picturePTSD has specific criteria and a specific evidence base; trauma responses that meet them are treated differently.
- Acute Stress Disorder: symptoms in the first monthWithin the first four weeks after an event, the diagnosis and the intervention window are different.
- Complex PTSD: trauma that was repeated over yearsProlonged, inescapable trauma adds difficulties with self-concept and relationships.
- Depression: the low mood that followedDepression is one of the most common downstream consequences of untreated trauma.
- Substance Use Disorder: drinking or using to get through the nightSelf-medication is common after trauma and changes the treatment sequence.
This page is for general education and is not medical advice or a substitute for care from your own clinician. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and for a medical emergency call 911.
Book a trauma-informed assessment
Lyte Psychiatry sees patients by secure telehealth across Texas and in person at our Pantego clinic in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.
Book an appointment