Shifting stuck points
- Identify trauma-related beliefs that maintain distress and avoidance
- Develop more balanced, evidence-based ways of understanding what happened
Individual Therapy · Ontario
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) in Ontario
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a structured, evidence-based treatment for PTSD that helps you identify and challenge unhelpful beliefs shaped by traumatic experiences.
- Virtual & In-Person
- Across Ontario
- Now Accepting Clients
- Free intro call available
- 12+ Sessions
- Structured and time-limited
The Approach
What is CPT?
CPT was originally developed by Patricia Resick in the late 1980s as a treatment for PTSD in survivors of sexual assault, and has since been validated across a wide range of trauma presentations, including combat, childhood abuse, accidents, and interpersonal violence. It is one of the most rigorously studied trauma therapies available and is recognized as a first-line treatment for PTSD by major international clinical guidelines.
CPT is particularly well-suited for people who experience persistent guilt or shame, difficulties with trust and safety, and disruptions to emotional or relational functioning following trauma. It works by helping clients identify the specific beliefs that formed in response to traumatic experiences and continue to drive distress, commonly around themes of safety, trust, control, self-worth, and responsibility, then using structured written exercises and guided dialogue to examine and update those beliefs toward more accurate and balanced ways of understanding what happened.
At a Glance
Duration
12+ sessions; more for complex trauma
Format
Structured, worksheet-based
Delivery
Virtual across Ontario · In-person in Toronto
Approach
Cognitive restructuring + between-session practice
Concerns We Treat
Conditions CPT is used to treat at our clinic
CPT has been validated across more than 30 randomized controlled trials and is recommended by the VA, the American Psychological Association, and the World Health Organization as a first-line treatment for PTSD.
Is This Right for You
Moving past the beliefs that keep you stuck
CPT is a structured, collaborative, and time-limited trauma therapy with clear milestones and practical between-session work. It is one of the most well-researched treatments for PTSD and is especially effective for people who feel stuck in self-blame, guilt, or distorted thinking patterns following trauma.
CPT does not require you to relive traumatic memories in detail. Instead, it focuses on the meaning you have taken from what happened and helps you examine those beliefs systematically. Between sessions, structured worksheets extend the work into everyday life.
Book a Free Intro CallYou may benefit if you:
- Experience persistent guilt, shame, or self-blame following a traumatic event
- Feel stuck in distressing thought patterns about safety, trust, or your own worth
- Struggle with avoidance, emotional numbing, or hypervigilance
- Have PTSD from any type of trauma, including assault, combat, childhood abuse, or accidents
- Want a structured, time-limited approach with clear milestones and practical exercises
Core Techniques
What you'll work on
CPT targets four interconnected areas, using structured exercises both in sessions and between them to shift the beliefs that keep trauma symptoms active.
Reducing guilt and shame
- Challenge self-blame and distorted responsibility beliefs
- Build a more compassionate and accurate sense of self after trauma
Restoring safety and trust
- Address beliefs about safety, control, and trust affected by trauma
- Reduce hypervigilance and emotional reactivity to reminders
Functional recovery
- Decrease avoidance and reconnect with daily life and relationships
- Strengthen long-term coping and resilience after treatment
Key Belief Areas
The belief areas CPT works through
CPT addresses six specific areas where trauma commonly disrupts a person's beliefs. Each is examined systematically across the course of treatment.
Self-Blame and Misplaced Blame
Trauma often generates powerful, negatively biased beliefs about responsibility, including blaming yourself for what happened, or directing blame toward someone who was not actually responsible. CPT helps you reach a more accurate and balanced understanding of accountability.
Safety
Trauma can leave you feeling that the world, other people, or your own body are fundamentally unsafe. CPT helps you build a more realistic and nuanced sense of safety.
Trust
Traumatic experiences, especially those involving betrayal or abuse, can damage the ability to trust yourself and others. CPT works to restore more flexible and accurate beliefs about trust.
Power and Control
Trauma often disrupts your sense of agency and control over your life. CPT addresses beliefs about helplessness and powerlessness and helps rebuild a sense of personal effectiveness.
Self-Esteem
Self-blame, shame, and a damaged sense of self-worth are common after trauma. CPT directly challenges distorted beliefs about your value and responsibility for what happened.
Intimacy
Trauma can make closeness feel dangerous or impossible. CPT examines beliefs that interfere with connection and helps rebuild the capacity for healthy, trusting relationships.
Our Program
How treatment is structured
CPT follows a clear, structured format starting at 12 sessions. Complex trauma histories may require additional sessions. You always know where you are in treatment and what to expect next.
Phase I
Understanding trauma and stuck points
Weekly 1:1 CPT sessions begin with identifying trauma-related beliefs and understanding how trauma has shaped your sense of safety, trust, control, self-worth, and responsibility. Distress management skills are also built during this phase.
Phase II
Cognitive processing of trauma
Clients use structured CPT exercises to examine and challenge unhelpful thoughts, learn to evaluate beliefs using evidence, and reduce avoidance and emotional reactivity.
Phase III
Integration and recovery
Therapy reinforces balanced, adaptive beliefs and supports strengthened daily functioning, healthier relationships, and personal goals for long-term recovery.
Related Treatments
Looking for a different trauma-therapy approach?
We offer a range of evidence-based trauma therapies. The best fit depends on your history, presentation, and goals.
Common Questions
Frequently asked questions about CPT
CPT typically runs 12 weekly sessions, completed in about 3 months. For more complex trauma histories, additional sessions may be recommended. The structured format means you always know where you are in treatment and what to expect in the sessions ahead, which many clients find reassuring when they are used to feeling uncertain about how recovery works.
Stuck points are specific beliefs that developed as a result of trauma and continue to interfere with recovery. They are often about safety, trust, control, self-worth, or responsibility. Common examples include believing you should have done something to prevent the trauma, that you cannot trust anyone, or that the world is permanently unsafe. These beliefs made sense as a response to what happened, and CPT helps you examine and update them using structured worksheets in a way that feels collaborative rather than confrontational.
Not necessarily. The original CPT protocol included a written trauma account, but research has since shown that CPT without the written account is equally effective. Many people feel relieved to know this is optional. Your therapist will explain both approaches and you will have full choice about whether to include it. In cases of high dissociation, your therapist may recommend including the written account, as it can support processing and help maintain connection to the material during treatment. The focus of CPT is on your beliefs about the trauma, not on reliving it in detail.
CPT focuses on identifying and restructuring trauma-linked beliefs through structured written exercises and dialogue. It is particularly targeted at guilt, shame, and distorted thinking patterns that have formed around the trauma. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to process the emotional charge of traumatic memories, with less focus on specific beliefs. Both are evidence-based for PTSD, and both are effective. The right fit depends on your presentation, your history, and what feels manageable to you.
Most sessions are covered in full or in part by extended health benefit plans. We provide detailed receipts for all sessions to support reimbursement. Visit our Fees and Coverage page for full details.
Yes. We offer virtual CPT across Ontario. The worksheet-based format of CPT is well suited to virtual delivery, and research supports its effectiveness online. In-person sessions are also available in Toronto.
Have a question not listed here? Visit our full FAQ page or get in touch directly.
Take the First Step
Learn whether CPT is the right trauma treatment approach for your goals.
Our clinicians will help you figure out whether CPT is the right fit, and what that would look like for you.
Book an Intro CallVirtual & In-Person · Ontario
Getting Started
Starting therapy is simple and supportive.
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Get in touch by booking a call online with our intake coordinator or by completing the contact form. You can also email admin@traumacarepsychology.ca or call (647) 456-7500.
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Complete a 20-minute intake call so we can determine the best therapist fit and treatment direction. Alternatively, browse our clinician directory and book a free 20-minute consultation directly with a clinician you feel is a good fit.
Browse our clinician directory → - 3
Schedule your first session and begin a personalized treatment plan based on your goals and concerns.
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Contact Us
Fill out the form and our intake coordinator will be in contact shortly.
Virtual care across Ontario · In-person in Toronto.