Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:32:22.217Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Changing Beliefs about Trauma: A Qualitative Study of Cognitive Processing Therapy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2014

Jennifer L. Price ,
Helen Z. MacDonald ,
Kathryn C. Adair ,
Naomi Koerner  and
Candice M. Monson
Jennifer L. Price*
Affiliation:
Georgetown College, Georgetown, USA
Helen Z. MacDonald
Affiliation:
Emmanuel College, Boston, USA
Kathryn C. Adair
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Naomi Koerner
Affiliation:
Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Candice M. Monson
Affiliation:
Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
*
Reprint requests to Jennifer L. Price, Associate Professor of Psychology, Georgetown College, 400 E. College Street, Georgetown, KY 40324, USA. E-mail: jennifer_price@georgetowncollege.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Controlled qualitative methods complement quantitative treatment outcome research and enable a more thorough understanding of the effects of therapy and the suspected mechanisms of action. Aims: Thematic analyses were used to examine outcomes of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a randomized controlled trial of individuals diagnosed with military-related PTSD (n = 15). Method: After sessions 1 and 11, participants wrote “impact statements” describing their appraisals of their trauma and beliefs potentially impacted by traumatic events. Trained raters coded each of these statements using a thematic coding scheme. Results: An analysis of thematic coding revealed positive changes over the course of therapy in participants’ perspective on their trauma and their future, supporting the purported mechanisms of CPT. Conclusion: Implications of this research for theory and clinical practice are discussed.

Keywords

Cognitive therapytreatment outcomequalitative methodsPTSD
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , March 2016 , pp. 156 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blake, D., Weathers, F., Nagy, L., Kaloupek, D., Gusman, F. D., Charney, D., et al. (1995). The development of a clinician-administered PTSD scale. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 75–90. doi: 10.1002/jts.2490080106 Google Scholar
Chard, K. (2005). An evaluation of cognitive processing therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 965–971. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.73.5.965 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foa, E. B. and Rauch, S. A. M. (2004). Cognitive changes during prolonged exposure versus prolonged exposure plus cognitive restructuring in female assault survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 879–884. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.72.5.879 Google Scholar
Gallegos, N. (2005). Client perspectives on what contributes to symptom relief in psychotherapy: a qualitative outcome study. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 45, 355–382. doi: 10.1177/0022167805277106 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, M. and Elliott, R. (2006). Client accounts of personal change in process-experiential psychotherapy: a methodologically pluralistic approach. Psychotherapy Research, 16, 91–105. doi: 10.1080/10503300500090993 Google Scholar
Klest, B. and Freyd, J. (2007). Global ratings of essays about trauma: development of the GREAT code, and correlations with physical and mental health outcomes. Journal of Psychological Trauma, 6, 1–20. doi: 10.1300/J513v06n01_01 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monson, C., Schnurr, P., Resick, P., Friedman, M., Young-Xu, Y. and Stevens, S. (2006). Cognitive Processing Therapy for veterans with military-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 898–907. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.898 Google Scholar
O’Kearney, R. and Perrott, K. (2006). Trauma narratives in posttraumatic stress disorder: a review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 81–93. doi: 10.1002/jts.20099 Google Scholar
Pennebaker, J., Booth, R. and Francis, M. (2007). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC 2007. Austin, TX: LIWC (www.liwc.net).Google Scholar
Resick, P., Galovski, T., Uhlmansiek, M., Scher, C., Clum, G. and Young-Xu, Y. (2008). A randomized clinical trial to dismantle components of cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in female victims of interpersonal violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 243–258. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.76.2.243 Google Scholar
Resick, P., Monson, C. and Chard, K. (2007). Cognitive Processing Therapy: veteran/military version. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans’ Affairs.Google Scholar
Shearing, V., Lee, D. and Clohessy, S. (2011). How do clients experience reliving as part of trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder? Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 84, 458–472. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.2010.02012.x Google Scholar
Sobel, A., Resick, P. and Rabalais, A. (2009). The effect of cognitive processing therapy on cognitions: impact statement coding. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 205–211. doi: 10.1002/jts.20408 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, P. (1997). Thematic text analysis: new agendas for analyzing text content. In Roberts, C. (Ed)., Text Analysis for the Social Sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Tausczik, Y. R. and Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29, 24–54. doi: 10.1177/0261927×09351676 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, F., Jenkins, H., Larkin, M., and Clohessy, S. (2012). Asylum seekers’ experiences of trauma focused cognitive behaviour therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: a qualitative study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 41, 579–593. doi: 10.1017/S1352465812000550 Google Scholar
Walser, R. and Hayes, S. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy and trauma survivors. In Follette, V. (Ed.), Trauma in Context: a cognitive behavioral approach to trauma (2nd ed.) New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.