Seeking recommendation for Denver PTSD & depression mental healthcare

September 28, 2017 4:18 PM

Can anyone refer me to a Denver area mental healthcare professional (counselor, therapist, social worker) who has experience working with clients who have long term depression, PTSD from childhood, history of Rx abuse?

Asking for a friend, looking for someone who's accepting new patients with Medicaid ("Colorado HealthFirst") coverage or does a sliding scale. He is going through the steps with the county's mental healthcare resources but would like to try EMDR or PTSD-specific work and the depression is not managed that well right now although he is on medication and taking it regularly. We looked on Psychology Today's directory but had trouble finding someone who is taking new patients right now. It would be great for him to have a referral from an actual human rather than just choosing online profiles of different people and calling them...thank you in advance for all your help.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

Best answer: I don't personally know of anyone, although I can ask around. My standard recommendation for a first-line PTSD treatment as a clinical psychologist researcher/therapist specializing in PTSD is Cognitive Processing Therapy or Prolonged Exposure. Those are the treatments with the most evidence of their ability to resolve symptoms in a short timeframe. Depressed mood is explicitly a symptom of PTSD and substance abuse is super common as a result of PTSD symptoms, so in many cases we end up treating PTSD first and the others either resolve or become easier to treat directly (although obviously that decision should be driven by a good assessment and case conceptualization). That is all to say, it might help direct your Googling to start looking for someone in the area who does one or the other. I'd be happy to talk to you backchannel about what both of them involve. If you decide to go with Cognitive Processing Therapy, they have a provider roster online (not including everyone who is trained to do it, but including everyone who has gone through the process of getting official approval) that shows Carolyn Hughes in Longmont. Her number is [phone].
posted by quiet coyote at 8:38 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

David Adames is a former coworker that I'd highly recommend. Skilled in the areas you mentioned and EMDR trained. If he/a local provider doesn't work out, I have a couple I'd also highly recommend in Colorado Springs if they are willing to travel.

Trying to link his site, but if it's not working- he's on psych today.


posted by aggielc at 8:47 AM on September 29, 2017

I just happened to come across this clinic, which is sliding scale and should be able to do a solid assessment and then treat you using the approaches I described if warranted. Good luck!
posted by quiet coyote at 4:17 PM on September 30, 2017