Evidence-Based Trauma Treatment
Cognitive Processing Therapy
CPT is one of the most researched and effective treatments for PTSD — helping you examine and reshape the thoughts that keep trauma's grip on your life.
What Is Cognitive Processing Therapy?
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a structured, evidence-based psychotherapy developed specifically to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It works by helping you identify and challenge the unhelpful beliefs — called "stuck points" — that trauma has created about yourself, others, and the world.
Unlike approaches that require you to relive traumatic events in detail, CPT focuses on how you think about what happened and the meaning you've assigned to it. By gently examining and reframing those thoughts, CPT helps reduce the emotional weight of trauma and restore a sense of safety, trust, and control.
CPT is typically delivered over 12 structured sessions and has been extensively validated in clinical trials with veterans, survivors of sexual assault, natural disasters, and other traumatic experiences.
How CPT Works
CPT follows a structured 12-session protocol that guides you through understanding, processing, and reshaping trauma's impact on your thinking.
Education & Orientation
You learn how PTSD develops, how avoidance maintains symptoms, and what to expect from the CPT process. Understanding the model is the foundation of change.
Impact Statement
You write about the meaning your trauma has had on your beliefs about yourself and the world — this becomes a roadmap for the work ahead.
Identifying Stuck Points
Together with your therapist, you identify the specific unhelpful thoughts — stuck points — that are keeping you from recovering.
Challenging Thoughts
Using structured worksheets, you learn to examine the evidence for and against your stuck points and develop more balanced, accurate beliefs.
Trauma Account (CPT+)
In the full CPT+ protocol, you write a detailed account of the traumatic event to process sensory and emotional details alongside the cognitive work.
Themes & Consolidation
The final sessions address five key life themes — safety, trust, power/control, esteem, and intimacy — and consolidate the gains you've made.
What CPT Can Help With
CPT was designed for PTSD but its cognitive framework addresses a wide range of trauma-related struggles.
CPT at Healing Rhode
Our clinicians are trained in CPT and deliver it with the fidelity and compassion the protocol requires. We understand that beginning trauma treatment takes courage, and we are committed to creating a safe, non-judgmental space where you can do this work at a pace that feels right for you.
CPT is available both in-person and via telehealth, and can be integrated alongside other evidence-based approaches — including EMDR and DBT — when clinically appropriate. We work collaboratively with you to build a treatment plan that fits your unique history and goals.
Clinicians offering this service
CPT is offered by Nicholas Robenhymer, Jillian Barnes, and Rachael Crowley. Contact us to get matched with the right clinician for you.
Common Questions About CPT
Ready to Start Healing?
You don't have to carry the weight of trauma alone. Our CPT-trained clinicians are here to help you move forward.