Treating Ptsd ― A Compassion-focused Cbt Approach

Treating PTSD presents a comprehensive, compassion-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach that provides therapists with the evidence-based information they need to understand trauma’s effects on the mind and body as well as the phases of healing. Chapters offer discussion, practical tools, and interventions that therapists can use with clients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to reduce feelings of distress and increase their sense of safety. Readers are introduced to the metaphor of ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ to explain the experience of PTSD; they’re also shown how to identify the work they’ll need to do as therapists to accompany clients on their healing journey. Two new compassion-focused CBT interventions for trauma processing are also introduced.

Shirley Porter, MEd, RSW, CCC, is a registered psychotherapist who has been providing trauma counseling for more than 25 years. She currently works in the counseling department at Fanshawe College and is an adjunct clinical professor at Western University, both in Ontario, Canada.