Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD
CPT
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). CPT focuses on creating freedom from the upsetting thoughts and emotions about traumatic events.
People who survive traumatic experiences sometimes struggle with very upsetting beliefs about the cause of the event(s) they experienced. You may struggle with believing that the event might have occurred because of something you did or didn’t do, that you could have prevented it somehow, or you feel very conflicted or confused about why the event happened in the first place. It often seems impossible to shake the sense of deep shame, horror, or anger about the cause of the event. Some of these conclusions may not be entirely true, may be in conflict with each other, and allowing yourself to work through your beliefs can be the linchpin to healing.
CPT is a structured treatment where you learn skills to examine, challenge, and resolve the troubling beliefs you may have about traumatic events. In research studies, CPT has been shown to effectively reduce symptoms of PTSD in people who have experienced many kinds of trauma (e.g., childhood sexual abuse, rape and sexual assault in adulthood, military and combat-related trauma, physical assault and violence, witnessing death or violence, motor vehicle accidents, natural disasters, and other threats to life or physical safety).
The length of CPT is typically 12 50-minute sessions and involves daily written exercises involves daily written assignments between sessions.
