Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Brentwood, TN
Trauma-Focused Therapy
What is Trauma-Focused Therapy?
Trauma-focused therapy is a specific approach to therapy that focuses on understanding how traumatic events can effect our mental, emotional, behavioral, physical, and spiritual well-being. The purpose of trauma-focused therapy is to offer skills and strategies to better process the emotions and memories tied to traumatic events. This would support the end goal of creating a healthier and more adaptive meaning of the experiences that have taken place.
What Does Trauma-Focused Therapy Look Like ?
To date, the National Center for PTSD's Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) lists Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and EMDR as among those trauma-focused therapies with the strongest evidence from clinical trials. However, the greatest number of studies have been conducted on exposure-based treatments, and Prolonged Exposure Therapy is considered a gold-standard treatment for PTSD:
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Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE):
PE teaches you to gradually approach trauma-related memories, feelings, and situations that you have been avoiding since your trauma.
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Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT):
CPT focuses on how your thinking has been impacted by the trauma and teaches you to take a look at your thoughts and help you progress toward recovery.​
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Written Exposure Therapy (WET):
WET is a brief, evidence-based treatment for PTSD that involves writing about trauma reminders. WET is a five-session protocol, with each session lasting about 50 minutes and typically held once a week.