Counseling for PTSD and Anxiety After a Car Accident or Work Injury
Recovery isn’t just physical.
Dr. Manesha Ram, PsyD, psychologist resident, supervised by David Kays, PsyD. Secure video visits anywhere in Oregon for adults 18 and over.
Auto Injury Counseling offers secure video counseling for adults anywhere in Oregon who are struggling emotionally after a car accident or work injury. Dr. Manesha Ram, PsyD, psychologist resident, supervised by David Kays, PsyD, helps with PTSD symptoms, anxiety, driving anxiety, sleep and stress. No referral is needed, and auto PIP often covers it.
Recovery isn’t just physical
A crash can hurt more than your neck and back. Many people feel shaken afterward. You might replay the crash, tense up at every intersection, avoid driving, or lie awake at night. You might feel irritable, low or not like yourself. These reactions are common, and help is available.
Research backs this up. Two research reviews found that about 1 in 5 people who survive a road traffic crash develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).1,2 In the larger review, PTSD was most common one month after the crash (about 29 in 100 people) and less common at three months (about 19 in 100).2 So for many people it eases, but for some it lasts for months.
If the crash is still on your mind, you don’t have to wait it out. Call (503) 919-7001 or book a telehealth visit online.
What Auto Injury Counseling helps with
Dr. Ram works with adults on the emotional and mental side of an injury. Common reasons people book:
- PTSD symptoms after a crash. Flashbacks, feeling on edge, or a lasting sense that you’re not safe. Dr. Ram helps you process what happened and rebuild a sense of safety and confidence.
- Anxiety and driving anxiety. Lasting worry after the crash, fear behind the wheel, or avoiding driving altogether.
- Sleep and stress. Trouble falling or staying asleep, and stress that builds during a long recovery.
- Adjusting after an injury. Depression, grief and the life changes that can come with pain, time off work and a long recovery.
- Concussion symptoms. Counseling for the brain fog, memory and focus changes, irritability, mood shifts and sleep problems that can follow a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury after a collision.
New concussion assessment or counseling intake. Your first visit with Dr. Ram is a new concussion assessment or counseling intake, by secure video. It produces three things: a diagnosis, a treatment plan and a written report. From there, your plan guides your sessions.
When to get emergency care first. After a head injury, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room if you have a headache that gets worse or won’t go away, repeated vomiting, seizures, slurred speech, weakness or numbness, trouble with coordination, unusual drowsiness, one pupil larger than the other, or confusion.
Ready to talk to someone? Call (503) 919-7001 or book online below.
How counseling fits with your injury care
Auto Injury Counseling is part of Auto Injury Chiropractic, so your counselor and your injury team can work from one plan.
- Concussion screening at every auto-injury exam. Every auto-injury exam at our Oregon City, Milwaukie and Troutdale clinics includes a concussion screen. Your chiropractor checks the physical side, including your neck. Dr. Ram works with the mental and cognitive side.
- Internal referral. If you’re treating with one of our chiropractors, they can refer you to Dr. Ram directly.
- One chart, with your consent. With your consent, your counselor can see your injury chart, so she understands the medical side of your recovery.
- Coordinated care. Dr. Ram coordinates with your chiropractor, so your physical and emotional care follow one plan. Many patients keep their chiropractic and massage visits at their home clinic and add counseling by video.
- No referral needed. You don’t have to be a chiropractic patient to book. Adults 18 and over anywhere in Oregon can book directly.
Research points the same way. In a randomized trial of 108 people with recent whiplash who were at risk of a poor recovery, adding stress inoculation training (a stress-management program) to exercise reduced neck-related disability more than exercise alone, at 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months.3 In that trial, physiotherapists delivered both parts. Our counseling is a separate service, but it follows the same idea: treat the whole person, not just the neck.
Already a patient at one of our clinics? Ask the front desk about adding counseling, or call (503) 919-7001.
Meet your counselor
Dr. Manesha Ram, PsyD, psychologist resident, supervised by David Kays, PsyD
Dr. Manesha Ram is a doctoral-level clinician (Doctor of Clinical Psychology, George Fox University) who helps people with the mental and emotional side of injury recovery. Her approach is warm, relational and trauma-informed. Working from a psychodynamic and narrative perspective, she helps you understand how past and present experiences shape the way you think and feel, change the patterns that keep you stuck, and get back to feeling like yourself. She works with adults on concussion recovery, accident-related anxiety and PTSD, depression, grief and major life transitions.
Sessions give you a comfortable, judgment-free place to work through even the hard parts of recovery, at whatever pace works for you.
Credentials: Doctor of Clinical Psychology (PsyD), George Fox University · Trauma-informed psychotherapy · Psychologist resident working toward Oregon licensure · Supervisor: David Kays, PsyD
What “psychologist resident” means. Dr. Ram has earned her doctorate and is working toward her Oregon psychology license under the supervision of a licensed psychologist, David Kays, PsyD. Oregon’s rules for this supervised work are in OAR 858-010-0036. As part of that supervision, Dr. Kays may review your case information. You’ll get a written disclosure that explains this before your first session.
Supervisor: David Kays, PsyD, Director of Behavioral Health
Dr. Kays oversees our behavioral health care and supervises Dr. Ram. He holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from George Fox University with an emphasis in trauma, is licensed by the Oregon Board of Psychology, and is certified in EMDR. His clinical focus is trauma, PTSD, anxiety and grief.
How telehealth sessions work
- By secure video, from anywhere in Oregon. There’s nothing to come in for. You need to be in Oregon at the time of each session.
- Adults 18 and over.
- 60-minute sessions.
- Online intake first. New counseling patients complete the counseling intake online before the first session at forms.autoinjurychiropractic.com/mil/dr-ram.
- Confirmation by text or email. When you book online, your request holds that time until our team confirms it by text or email.
- Scheduling through Milwaukie. Our Milwaukie clinic team schedules all of Dr. Ram’s visits, for patients from every clinic and anywhere in Oregon.
Counseling scheduling: (503) 919-7001. Mon to Thu 9:00am to 6:00pm, Fri 9:00am to 1:00pm. Appointments until 6:00pm Monday to Thursday.
Insurance and payment
For counseling, we accept:
- Auto insurance PIP (Personal Injury Protection)
- Workers’ compensation
- Regence BlueCross BlueShield
- Moda
- Providence
If you were hurt in a crash, your auto PIP often covers counseling after the accident. Oregon PIP pays at least $15,000 for reasonable and necessary medical expenses within two years of the crash (ORS 742.524). Read how Oregon PIP pays for your care.
Our front desk verifies your coverage before your first session. Have a different plan? Call (503) 919-7001 and we’ll tell you what applies before you book.
Attorneys and paralegals: see our information for attorneys.
Book a telehealth visit
Telehealth counseling
Book a visit with Dr. Manesha Ram, PsyD
Dr. Manesha Ram, PsyD, psychologist resident, supervised by David Kays, PsyD. Secure video visits anywhere in Oregon for adults 18 and over. Sessions are 60 minutes.
- 1Pick Dr. Ram's visit type. New to us? Choose Dr. Ram: New Concussion Assessment / Counseling Intake. Already a patient? Choose Telehealth- Dr. Ram.
- 2Pick a time. Your request holds that time until our team confirms it by text or email.
- 3Enter your details. No referral needed. We verify your PIP, workers' comp or health plan coverage before the first session.
Dr. Ram's visits are scheduled through our Milwaukie clinic, so the scheduler below shows Milwaukie. That's correct for telehealth: there's nothing to come in for.
After you book: complete your counseling intake online at forms.autoinjurychiropractic.com/mil/dr-ram before your first session.
Prefer to call? Counseling scheduling: (503) 919-7001. Our Milwaukie team schedules all of Dr. Ram's visits.
If you're in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Telehealth counseling is not an emergency service.
Counseling questions, answered
Does auto insurance cover counseling after a crash?
Often, yes. In Oregon, auto insurance PIP (Personal Injury Protection) often covers counseling after a crash, including sessions with Dr. Ram. For counseling we also accept workers’ compensation, Regence BlueCross BlueShield, Moda and Providence. Our front desk verifies your coverage before your first session.
Do I need a referral to see Dr. Ram?
No. Call (503) 919-7001 to schedule, or book online. If you’re already treating with one of our chiropractors, they can refer you to Dr. Ram directly, and with your consent she can see your injury chart so your care follows one plan.
Are sessions in person or online?
Online. Dr. Ram sees patients by secure video, from anywhere in Oregon, so you don’t need to come into a clinic for counseling. You need to be in Oregon during each session. Telehealth counseling is not an emergency service: if you're in crisis, call or text 988 or call 911.
What does “psychologist resident, supervised by David Kays, PsyD” mean?
Dr. Ram has her doctorate in clinical psychology and is working toward her Oregon license under the supervision of David Kays, PsyD, a psychologist licensed by the Oregon Board of Psychology. Dr. Kays may review your case information as part of that supervision. You’ll get a written disclosure explaining this before your first session.
Can I combine counseling with my chiropractic treatment?
Yes. Many patients keep their chiropractic and massage visits at their home clinic in Oregon City, Milwaukie or Troutdale and add counseling by secure video. Dr. Ram coordinates with your chiropractor, so your providers share one care plan. Counseling scheduling is through our Milwaukie clinic at (503) 919-7001.
What are common concussion symptoms after a car accident?
Headaches, brain fog, trouble focusing, memory changes, irritability, sleep problems, light or noise sensitivity, and anxiety, especially behind the wheel. Symptoms can appear days or weeks after the crash, so don’t wait to get checked. Every auto-injury exam at our clinics includes a concussion screen.
Auto Injury Chiropractic
Care near you
Counseling is by secure video, so you never need to come in for it. For in-person chiropractic care, massage and rehab after a crash, choose the clinic nearest you. Every auto-injury exam includes a concussion screen.
For counseling with Dr. Ram from any of these clinics, or from anywhere in Oregon: Counseling scheduling: (503) 919-7001, or book online above.
Recovery isn't just physical.
References
- Lin W, Gong L, Xia M, Dai W. Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder among road traffic accident survivors: a PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018;97(3):e9693. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000009693. PMID 29505023.
- Shahsavarinia K, Sabahi Z, Tahmasbi F, et al. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in road traffic accident survivors. Health Promot Perspect. 2025;15(3):213-235. doi:10.34172/hpp.025.43651. PMID 41356737.
- Sterling M, Smeets R, Keijzers G, Warren J, Kenardy J. Physiotherapist-delivered stress inoculation training integrated with exercise versus physiotherapy exercise alone for acute whiplash-associated disorder (StressModex): a randomised controlled trial of a combined psychological/physical intervention. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53(19):1240-1247. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2018-100139. PMID 30661011.