CPT
Core Mechanism
Identifying and challenging stuck points (distorted trauma-related beliefs) restores balanced appraisals of safety, trust, power, esteem, intimacy
Ontology
Trauma disrupts pre-existing beliefs or generates distorted accommodations about self and world
Therapeutic Voice
"You wrote that the assault was your fault because you didn't fight back. Let's look at that stuck point together."
View of the Person
A meaning-making being whose traumatic accommodations distort beliefs about safety, trust, power, esteem, and intimacy
Evidence
VA/DoD 2023: Recommended (strong). APA: Strongly recommended
25+ RCTs
Multiple meta-analyses
Gold standard for PTSD. Effective across trauma types.
Conditions
Epistemology
Blind Spots
Cognitive focus may underemphasize somatic and emotional processing; structured protocol can feel rigid
Contraindications
Active psychosis, imminent suicidality, active substance dependence requiring stabilization, severe dissociation, inability to engage with written cognitive exercises
Training
CPT workshop (2 days) + consultation calls. Well-manualized. VA dissemination
Official CPT trainers; VA credentialing
16 hrs + consultation
$1K-2.5K
Find a Trained Therapist
Equity & Cultural Adaptations
Philosophical Roots
Beck (cognitive model); Horowitz (stress response theory); Piaget (accommodation/assimilation); constructivism (meaning is actively constructed)
Related Modalities
CPT in 2 Comparative Clinical Vignettes
Each vignette presents the same client through multiple theoretical lenses side by side — showing how CPT formulates presenting problems, sets treatment focus, and sounds in the consulting room compared with the other modalities working the same 2 cases. This comparative pedagogy is unique to Epoché Clinical; no other clinical reference systematically formulates the same case across traditions.
Test Yourself
What is a 'stuck point'?
Show answer
A belief about trauma keeping you stuck — often self-blame or distorted safety beliefs.