You do not have to retell the whole story to get help. Trauma informed psychiatric care with Alice Tran, PMHNP-BC starts with safety and moves at your pace, in person in Fairfax or by telehealth anywhere in Virginia.
Book an Appointment →PTSD is what happens when a nervous system that once had very good reasons to stay alert never gets the message that the danger has passed. It can follow a single event, and it can also build from long stretches of fear, control, or powerlessness, which is often described as complex trauma. It shows up as sleep that never feels restful, nightmares, a startle response that embarrasses you, avoidance that quietly narrows your life, emotional numbness, and a heavy layer of shame or self blame that the people around you usually never see. Northern Virginia is full of people carrying this: immigrant and refugee families, military and veteran households, first responders, and adults whose difficult childhoods were never named as such. You do not need a dramatic story for your symptoms to be real.
The evaluation is trauma informed, which is not a slogan. It means the first appointment, a full 60 minutes, focuses on what you are living with now rather than requiring a detailed account of what happened. You will not be pushed to disclose more than you choose to, and you can stop at any point. Alice takes a psychiatric and medical history, reviews current symptoms including hypervigilance, nightmares, avoidance, and emotional reactivity, screens for the conditions that so often travel with trauma such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and substance use, and helps clarify whether what you are experiencing fits PTSD, complex trauma, or an adjustment reaction to a recent stressor. Stabilization comes before anything else.
Medication is one useful part of trauma treatment rather than the whole of it. SSRIs and SNRIs are first line and can reduce the intensity of intrusive symptoms and hyperarousal. Prazosin is often helpful specifically for trauma related nightmares. Sleep is treated seriously, because almost nothing improves while sleep stays broken. Medication does not erase memories, and no responsible clinician can promise it will. What it can do for many people is lower the volume enough that therapy and daily life become workable. Alice does not provide trauma focused psychotherapy such as EMDR, CPT, or prolonged exposure herself; she coordinates with Virginia therapists who do, and keeps both halves of the plan aligned. Care is in person at the Fairfax office in the Merrifield area, with free parking, or by secure telehealth anywhere in Virginia, in English or Tiếng Việt.
An accident, an assault, a medical emergency, a loss. One event is enough, and treatment does not require reliving it in detail.
Built over years rather than in one moment. It often looks like difficulty trusting, chronic shame, and emotional swings.
Trauma related nightmares and hyperarousal are among the most treatable pieces, and improving sleep changes everything else.
War, displacement, and separation leave marks that often went unnamed for decades. Care is available in Vietnamese.
Practical details for Virginia patients
Related: Trauma and PTSD overview · Prazosin for PTSD nightmares · War trauma in Vietnamese families · Anxiety treatment across Virginia · Depression treatment across Virginia · Psychiatric care in Fairfax · Rates and insurance · Full FAQ
No. The evaluation focuses on the symptoms you are living with now, not on a detailed account of the event. You control what you share and you can stop at any point. Many people are treated effectively without ever narrating the specifics in a psychiatric visit.
Yes, for many people. SSRIs and SNRIs are first line and can reduce hyperarousal, avoidance, and the intensity of intrusive symptoms. Prazosin is often used specifically for trauma related nightmares. Medication does not erase memories, and results vary, but it can lower the volume enough that other healing work becomes possible.
Alice provides psychiatric evaluation, medication management, and trauma informed supportive care. She does not provide EMDR, cognitive processing therapy, or prolonged exposure herself. She will help you connect with a Virginia therapist who does and keep the medication plan aligned with that work.
Yes. Symptoms sometimes stay quiet for months or years and surface later, often when circumstances change, when the coping strategies that were holding things together stop working, or when a new stressor reactivates the old response. A delayed onset does not make the diagnosis any less valid.
It still counts. Prolonged exposure to fear, control, instability, or powerlessness can produce what is often called complex trauma, which may look different from classic PTSD and deserves the same careful evaluation. The threshold is the effect on your life, not the severity of the story.
For evaluation, medication management, and follow up, yes, and many people find that being in their own space makes the first conversation easier. Alice is licensed in Virginia only, so you need to be physically in Virginia at the time of the visit. She treats adults 18 to 65.
Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Medicare, and Medicaid are accepted. Self pay rates are $400 for the 60 minute initial visit and $200 for a 30 minute follow up or $250 for a 45 minute follow up.
Please do not wait for an appointment. Call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day. For an emergency call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. This practice does not provide crisis or after hours coverage.
If you are in crisis right now, please do not wait for an appointment.
Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Free, confidential, available 24/7.
For emergencies, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
Alice Tran Psychiatric Care does not operate 24/7 and does not provide crisis services. Emails, voicemails, text or portal messages are typically responded to within 24 to 72 business hours.
Trauma informed care in Fairfax & by telehealth across Virginia. English & Tiếng Việt. No referral needed.
Book Now →Or call/text: (703) 791-9099