Important: This page provides general information, not medical or legal advice, a diagnosis, or a guarantee of services, coverage, cost, availability, or a particular privacy outcome. Policies and benefits can change. Consult a qualified professional for personal guidance and verify coverage and costs with the provider and health plan. Do not delay emergency help to check coverage.
Treatment
PTSD and Trauma: What Treatment Looks Like in WV
How to get a trauma evaluation at Southern Highlands: scheduling, what happens at intake, insurance and sliding fee scale, telehealth, and locations in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties.
When most people hear “PTSD,” they think of military veterans. Plenty of people searching for trauma treatment have never been in combat.
If you’re trying to figure out whether what you’re carrying is PTSD, that’s a question for a licensed clinician who has talked with you, not for a website. This page won’t try to diagnose you. What it will do is lay out how to get evaluated in southern West Virginia, what the first appointment involves, and what it costs.
For clinician-written background on PTSD, the National Institute of Mental Health publishes plain-language material at nimh.nih.gov.
You don’t have to be a veteran to ask about trauma
People in Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties reach out after all kinds of experiences. Car wrecks on mountain roads. Domestic violence. Childhood abuse or neglect. Assault. Being present for an overdose or a death. Floods and fires. Violence in the community.
You do not need to rank your experience against anyone else’s before asking for an appointment, and you do not need to have been in combat for trauma to be worth talking to someone about.
If you are a veteran and need to talk to someone right now, you can call or text 988 and press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
How to make an appointment
Call Southern Highlands at (304) 425-9541 and ask to schedule. You do not need a referral from a doctor.
You can also walk into a clinic during business hours and ask the front desk to get you scheduled.
If making the call is the hard part, ask someone you trust to sit with you while you do it. That’s a common way people get started.
What happens at the first appointment
The first visit is an assessment. A clinician asks what brought you in, how long it’s been going on, how it’s affecting work, sleep, and the people around you, what you’ve already tried, and what you want to be different.
You are not required to tell the story of what happened to you at intake. You can say that a past experience is part of why you’re there without going into detail. What you share and when you share it is yours to control.
There’s paperwork as well: contact information, insurance, medical history, consent forms. Showing up a little early makes that easier.
At the end of the assessment, the clinician talks with you about what services are available and what the next step is.
What to bring
- A photo ID
- Your insurance card, if you have one (WV Medicaid, Medicare, or private)
- A list of the medications you currently take
- Names and numbers for other providers you see
- Documentation of household income if you don’t have insurance, so the sliding fee scale can be applied
If you’re not sure what applies to you, ask when you call.
What “trauma-informed” means
Trauma-informed care is a term for how services are organized and delivered, not the name of a specific treatment. The framework comes from SAMHSA, the federal behavioral health agency, and is built around principles including safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment and choice, and attention to cultural context. You can read SAMHSA’s own material at samhsa.gov.
In practical terms, it’s reasonable to ask about it when you schedule. Questions people ask include what training the clinicians have, how the program handles pacing, and whether you can change providers if the fit isn’t right. Those are fair questions and the staff are used to hearing them.
What Southern Highlands provides
Southern Highlands is a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) serving Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties. Outpatient services include counseling and psychiatric services, along with care coordination to connect the other parts of your care.
Southern Highlands also provides substance use treatment. If both trauma and substance use are part of what’s going on, you can raise both at intake rather than picking one to talk about. That’s not an unusual thing to bring up, and it’s better said early than left out.
Which services fit your situation is determined through the assessment, not in advance and not online.
Getting to appointments in a rural county
Weekly appointments are a lot to ask when the drive is forty minutes each way on a road that ices over. Add limited transit, one vehicle per household, and a work schedule that doesn’t bend, and it’s easy to see why people start and then stop.
Telehealth is available. Appointments can be done by video, or by phone when the internet won’t hold a connection. That takes the drive out of it.
If you need to be seen in person, ask about scheduling around weather and around whatever transportation you can arrange. Say it plainly when you call so the person scheduling you can work with it.
Paying for care
Southern Highlands participates in West Virginia Medicaid and Medicare and may participate with commercial plans. Coverage, network status, authorization, and cost-sharing vary by service and plan.
If you don’t have insurance, there is a sliding fee scale based on household income. The front office can tell you what documentation to bring so the fee is set correctly before your first visit.
Ask about cost on the phone rather than assuming. It’s a short conversation and it settles a question that stops a lot of people from calling at all.
Where the clinics are
- Mercer County — Princeton
- McDowell County — Welch
- Wyoming County — the Pineville, Mullens, and Rockview area
If a different location is easier to reach than the one nearest your address, you can ask to be scheduled there.
The shame problem
A lot of people put off calling because of what they tell themselves. “I should be over this by now.” “Other people went through worse.” “I ought to be able to handle it.”
Nobody at intake is grading you on that. Making an appointment is not a statement about how bad things are or a commitment to anything beyond a conversation. You go in, you talk to someone, you find out what’s available. What happens after that is your decision.
If you need help right now
Don’t wait for an appointment if you’re in crisis.
- Southern Highlands crisis line: 1-800-615-0122, 24 hours a day
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org. Veterans can dial 988 and press 1.
- 911 if someone is in immediate physical danger
- You can also go to the Crisis Stabilization Unit
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a referral?
No. Call (304) 425-9541 and ask to schedule.
Do I have to talk about what happened?
Not at intake, and not before you’re ready. You can tell a clinician that a past experience is part of why you’re there without describing it. What you share and when is up to you.
It happened a long time ago. Is it too late to call?
No. There’s no window on making an appointment, whether it was last month or decades back.
What if I’ve been to counseling before and it didn’t help?
Say so when you call. Fit, timing, and scheduling all matter, and that history is useful information for the staff. You can also ask to be scheduled with a different provider at any point.
What if I can’t afford it?
Southern Highlands participates in West Virginia Medicaid and Medicare and may participate with commercial plans. Coverage, network status, authorization, and cost-sharing vary by service and plan. Qualifying uninsured patients can ask about the sliding fee scale.
Can I be seen without driving to a clinic?
Telehealth is available by video, and by phone when video isn’t practical. Ask about it when you schedule.
If you’d like to request an evaluation related to trauma or PTSD, call Southern Highlands at (304) 425-9541. Clinics serve Mercer, McDowell, and Wyoming counties, and you can contact the clinic directly. A health plan or particular service may apply referral, authorization, eligibility, or medical-necessity rules. Southern Highlands participates in West Virginia Medicaid and Medicare and may participate with commercial plans; coverage, network status, and cost-sharing vary. Qualifying uninsured patients can ask whether the sliding fee scale applies.
For general information about PTSD and trauma, see the National Institute of Mental Health or SAMHSA.