Therapy. Take 4, or is it 5 now?

Yesterday was a new start. A new day in a new world. Yesterday started my CPT therapy.

What is CPT?

Cognitive Processing Therapy.

What exactly is that?

Perhaps wiki will help us a little better… Ok here it is: Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is an adaptation of the evidence-based therapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) used by clinicians to help consumers explore recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related conditions.^[1] It is a manualized therapy that includes common elements from general cognitive-behavioral treatments. CPT typically consists of 12 sessions and has been shown to be effective in treating PTSD across a variety of populations, including combat veterans,^[2][3][4] sexual assault victims,^[5][6][7] and refugees.

Ok, that is too long winded. How about if we check out a different site….

This might work.  Funny, it’s from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. This looks better though. Ok, I’ll show this one:   You may have a hard time making sense of what happened. You may find yourself getting “stuck” in your thoughts about the trauma and how it affects your life. This feeling of being unable to make sense of the trauma can make you want to avoid thinking about or dealing with your memories.  (So True! )
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) helps you by giving you a new way to handle these distressing thoughts and to gain an understanding of these events. By using the skills learned in this therapy, you can learn why recovery from traumatic events has been hard for you. CPT helps you learn how going through a trauma changed the way you look at the world, yourself, and others. The way we think and look at things directly affects how we feel and act. (Hmmmm. )
You and your therapist will work together to help you learn a new way of dealing with your trauma. In CPT you will work closely with your therapist to reach your goals. You will be meeting with him or her on a regular basis for 12 sessions. During your therapy you will also have the chance to practice your new skills outside of your therapy meetings. The more you practice your new skills, the sooner they will begin working for you. By choosing to approach your experiences in a new and different way, you will be able to decide how your past affects your future. (Ok, let’s hope this will work)

That’s some interesting information. What I like about this so far (and yes so far, as it’s only been one session, and sadly thanks to a holiday and to a vacation, I will miss 2 weeks, but that’s ok, we’ll jump right back in) is that there are only 2 sessions going over the EVENT, and the rest focus on me, and changing behaviors and the way I view things. We started right off with being stuck.

What is being stuck? The way it was described to me, was strong statements that are negative about you.

• I CANNOT show emotion or I will lose control of them.
• If I WASN’T drinking, it wouldn’t have happened.
• I CANNOT trust anyone ANYMORE.

It’s statements like that. These statements are thoughts about my understanding of why the trauma happened, or about myself, others, and the world, and how those thoughts have changed dramatically as a result of trauma.

I have homework. I’m to write as many stuck statements that I can about my thoughts due to the EVENT.  I’m also to write one page on why I think this EVENT occurred. I’m to write about what I have been thinking about the cause of the EVENT.  Also, how has this event effected my beliefs about myself, others, and the world in the areas of safety, trust, power/control, esteem, and intimacy.  Looking at the syllabus, (yes there is a syllabus) this will be referenced through out the therapy.

What will be some of the lessons you ask? Let’s take a look.  We will be talking about the meaning of the event and discussing the stuck points, identifying the thoughts and feelings, review the EVENT with regards to acceptance or self-blame issues, remembering the traumatic EVENT, challenging questions… challenging the cognitions regarding the EVENT, safety issues, trust issues, power and control issues, esteem issues, and intimacy issues.

This looks like it might be good. I’m hoping that with this therapy, I’ll be able to put the EVENT behind me, and move on. I don’t want to continue in this stuck state, I want to be progressing. I want to be ME.  I know this is just another step towards the road to me. I hope it works.