If someone's life is in danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network provides information on its website and through its publications as a public service. We cannot respond to specific questions regarding personal situations, appropriate diagnosis or treatment, professional resources available in your area, or otherwise provide any clinical opinions. We understand, however, that people may have arrived at NCTSN.org because they are looking for such help. Please consider the following.

If you believe you might benefit from the services of a mental health professional, consider using these resources to locate the services you need:

• Get Help Now. This section of our website lists hotlines and websites for people in crisis and information about victim assistance programs.
• The nearest NCTSN member for a referral: Click here for a list of all NCTSN-affiliated centers by state.
• SAMHSA's Mental Health Services Locator for information about mental health resources and services.
• Your Primary Care Physician (PCP): If you are part of an HMO or other managed care insurance plan, your primary physician can refer you to a specialist or therapist.
• Your insurance provider: Contact your insurance company or "behavioral health care organization" for a list of mental health care providers included in your insurance plan.
• District branches of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for names of APA members in your area: Click here to find your APA district branch online.
• The psychiatry or psychology department at a teaching hospital or medical school in your community.
• National Association of Social Workers' Register of Clinical Social Workers.
• American Psychological Association (APA) for a list of psychologists in your area: Call 1-800-964-2000 or access APA's list online.
• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for a list of pediatricians in your area. Click here to access AAP's "Find a Pediatrician" referral service.
• Mental Health America (MHA) for links to local affiliates around the country and their resources for finding treatment
.
• American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) for general information for families and their Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder.

No official endorsement by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for the information on this web site is intended or should be inferred. The materials contained on this site are made available for educational purposes only and are not meant to serve as medical advice or to replace consultation with your physician or mental health professional. Information about diagnosis and treatment that appears on this site should not be used to diagnose or treat a mental health problem without consulting a qualified mental health care provider. You are advised to consult your mental health provider about your personal questions or concerns.

The views and opinions of authors expressed on this site do not necessarily state or reflect those of the entire National Child Traumatic Stress Network or its independent centers.

Links to external websites are provided for convenience of reference only and are not intended as an endorsement by the NCTSN of the organization or individual operating the host web site or a warranty of any type regarding the host web site or the information on that site.

Your privacy is important to us. Listed below are the guidelines we follow to ensure the privacy of all visitors to NCTSN.org.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) does not ask web users to register or to provide personal information in order to visit NCTSN.org; however, certain pages on the site may require registration—including provision of personal information such as name, email address, organizational affiliation, and role within that organization—before access can be granted.

• NCTSN collects only the personal information provided by web users themselves.
• Personal information provided to NCTSN is securely stored. It is not sold or rented to outside parties.
• Personal information provided to NCTSN may be used to contact web users about the material accessed as well as about related programs, products, and services.

NCTSN.org uses session cookies. A session cookie is a line of text that is stored temporarily in a computer's random access memory (RAM). Session cookies help web users navigate through the site, and may also be used to collect statistics when users click on a link to or from the site. Session cookies are destroyed as soon as you close your browser.

• Data from session cookies may be used to help us evaluate how our site is being used, which information is of most interest to visitors, and how we can enhance site functionality. Automatically collected information includes:
  • General log information such as: Internet domain, IP address, browser used, date and time visited, and pages visited
  • Referral and statistical information from pages that web users have visited and that we link to and from.

Web users may communicate with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network through email or through forms filled out on NCTSN.org. We use this information only to respond to users or to process a request. We do not sell or rent the information provided.

If you have any questions or concerns about these policies, please email us at info@nctsn.org.

NCTSN.org is a resource for the public, professionals, and others who care about children and are concerned about child traumatic stress.

It is the web site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), which is funded by the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The NCTSN site is maintained by the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS) in consultation with the NCTSN Steering Committee as well as advisors from among NCTSN member centers and the public. NCTSN itself receives advice and guidance from its National Advisory Board.

This site is updated each week. The update notice at the bottom of the main page is adjusted each Monday.

Many of the materials on NCTSN.org have been created by collaborative groups of NCTSN members. These materials contain author credits.

Uncredited materials have been developed by NCCTS professional staff with guidance from the NCCTS Executive Committee and various NCTSN members.

Some of the materials on the website are copyrighted. Readers are welcome to download, print, and distribute materials in the format in which they are presented on the web site, including identifying logos, footers, and title pages. If you are interested in adapting or licensing use of NCTSN materials, please contact the National Resource Center at info@nctsn.org.

Publications posted on this website include facts of publication on their title pages or elsewhere, and citations should be drawn from that material. For materials on web pages for which no facts of publication appear, please use the following, APA-style citation:

National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (date or n.d. if no date is given). Title in italics and sentence case. Retrieved Month day, year, from www.nctsnet.org/name of file.

For example, information taken from the Trauma Types page would be cited as follows:

National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (n.d.). Types of traumatic stress. Retrieved January 21, 2007, from www.nctsnet.org/nccts/nav.do?pid=typ_main.

Other organizations are welcome to link to NCTSN.org. For a low-resolution copy of the NCTSN logo that may be used in a link, click here.

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