Cognitive Therapy for PTSD: Updating Memories and Meanings of Trauma
Ehlers A., Wild J.
What people find most distressing about a traumatic event varies greatly from person to person. The personal meanings of trauma and their relationship with features of trauma memories are central to Cognitive Therapy for PTSD, which builds on Ehlers and Clark’s (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319–345, 2000) model of PTSD. Treatment focuses on changing excessively negative personal meanings of the trauma and its consequences, reducing reexperiencing through updating memories and trigger discrimination, and changing behaviors and cognitive strategies that maintain PTSD. Treatment procedures and the order in which they are conducted are tailored to the individual case formulation. CT-PTSD can be applied to a wide range of traumas and has been evaluated with adults, children, and adolescents.