Cognitive Processing Therapy.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a cognitive behavioral treatment, which draws mainly from the cognitive interventions of CBT. CPT helps people understand how they have made sense of their trauma.  Our attempts to explain why the trauma may have occurred often leads us to blame ourselves or others. This is because it’s often harder to accept that we may not have been able to do much to prevent the trauma.  It goes against how we want to see the world. However, holding on to blame interferes with healing from the trauma, as we get stuck in never-ending cycles of shame and or anger.  CPT additionally helps people see how the trauma has impacted the way they think about themselves, others, and the world. Trauma often causes us to see the world, ourselves, and others in extreme and negative ways, such as “no one can be trusted” or “the world is entirely unsafe.”  Thinking in these extreme ways give us the illusion that somehow, we are in control and can prevent any future trauma or suffering.  However, these thoughts disconnect us from ourselves and others, and interfere with our ability to ultimately lead full and meaningful lives. The goal of CPT is to right size our thinking so that we see the trauma in it’s true light and think about ourselves, others, and the world in more balanced ways, thus allowing us to reclaim our lives from the trauma.

Prolonged Exposure.

Prolonged Exposure (PE) is also a CBT based treatment, however it draws mainly from the behavioral interventions of CBT (i.e. exposure).  Prolonged exposure aims at helping people stop avoiding their traumatic memories and any external trauma reminders (e.g. people, places, or things that are reminders of the trauma). The goal is to overcome the fear that is holding trauma survivors back from living full lives.  Prolonged exposure incorporates two forms of exposure: imaginal exposure and in-vivo exposure. The purpose of imaginal exposure is to recount the traumatic event in great detail, in order to help trauma survivors recognize they can tolerate the trauma memories without responding with intense fear and avoidance. This type of exposure also allows people to recognize possible misperceptions in the way they viewed the traumatic event, such as blaming themselves for something that was not actually their fault. The purpose of in-vivo exposure is to intentionally stop avoiding places, people, and things that are trauma reminders, thus helping people re-connect to their lives and values.