Cognitive Processing Therapy in Rochester, MN
What is Cognitive Processing Therapy?
- Treatment for PTSD and related conditions
- Short-term therapy in an individual (50 minutes) or group (typically 90 minutes) setting occurs weekly or twice weekly.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) examines a traumatic event's impact on one's life and helps review and change unhelpful thoughts and feelings related to the event, oneself, others, and the world. An essential part of treatment is addressing the ways of thinking that might keep an individual "stuck" and block the path to recovery from symptoms of PTSD and other problems.
CPT is effective in treating PTSD across a variety of populations and types of traumas. CPT has worked well for individuals who have experienced combat, sexual, or childhood trauma and other types of traumatic events.
WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF CPT?
Reflect
- Improve your understanding of PTSD
- Examine the impact of the trauma on thoughts and feelings
- Decrease avoidance and emotional numbing
Redefine
- Learn skills to evaluate thinking
- Consider alternative viewpoints of the trauma, oneself, and the world.
Recover
- Reduce your level of distress related to your memories of the trauma
- Reduce feelings of anxiety, anger, guilt, and shame
- Improve day-to-day living
WHAT WILL I BE DOING IN CPT?
Over approximately 12 therapy sessions held weekly:
- Through structured therapy sessions and take-home practice assignments, you will learn to identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts.
- You will be asked to write about the impact of your traumatic experience(s). You will not be asked to tell the "story of your trauma unless you choose to. CPT looks at the impact of that trauma, not telling the story of the trauma itself.
- You will be asked to complete regular take-home practice assignments to apply what you learn in therapy.
- You will learn skills to help you evaluate the evidence for your beliefs and consider alternative conclusions.
We are an approved CPT provider by the International Institute.
"The life you want by learning the skills you need."