What we do

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

This combines two effective kinds of psychotherapy: cognitive therapy and behaviour therapy.

Behaviour therapy helps to weaken the connections between troublesome situations and our habitual reactions to them. Behavioural therapy involves exposure to the problem that one is afraid of. The more one is exposed, usually through guided imagery, facilitated by the therapist, the more anxiety symptoms disappear.

Cognitive therapy teaches patients how certain thinking patterns are causing their symptoms. Cognitive therapy helps patients to challenge negative thinking patterns, and replace them with more constructive and healthy thinking.

Trauma-focused CBT specifically helps the individual to confront his or her traumatic experiences – to question the automatic assumptions linked to these experiences, and to challenge these assumptions.

Through trauma-focused CBT, Veterans are helped to address feelings of shame, blame, guilt and stigma, which are common barriers to recovery in those suffering from PTSD. They are also helped to look at the meaning of their trauma, and the impact that this has had on their lives.