Unrecognized hospital trauma as a source of complex psychiatric symptoms: a systematic case study with implications for children's rights and evidence-based practice.

This article describes the psychological assessment and treatment of Paul (12). For several years, he had received numerous diagnoses from a range of specialists and been unsuccessfully treated for epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Treatment was based on a formulation-driven transdiagnostic approach. Soon it was clear that the correct diagnosis was posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) precipitated by an event in hospital when Paul was 6. Two sessions of Children's Accelerated Trauma Treatment (CATT) led to rapid resolution of the main symptoms and gains were consolidated and maintained in further treatment and follow-up sessions. The case material is used to examine why the correct case formulation had been missed, evidence for the efficacy of CATT, and implications for evidence-based practice and children's rights.