These two therapies, Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure Therapy, have had a tremendously positive impact on rape survivors and have created hope for healing. The manual Cognitive Processing Therapy for Rape Victims is written for trained therapists.
Like general cognitive therapies, CPT teaches the rape survivor how to listen to thoughts, challenge the irrational/distorted thoughts, and change them to more realistic ones (Bryant-Davis). However, CPT goes further to identify five belief themes that are often negatively altered after a rape. The five themes are beliefs about (1) safety, (2) trust, (3) power/control, (4) esteem, and (5) intimacy. CPT is …show more content…
Exposure therapy addresses the heart of PTSD symptoms by going directly to the trauma memory with the guidance of a therapist. In exposure therapy, the client revisits the memory of the trauma in her mind, describing the event repeatedly in the therapist’s office. The goal of exposure therapy is to help the woman experience and process emotions that occurred during the trauma but were not allowed out because of the danger of the situation. Many therapies help manage specific PTSD symptoms, such as medications to help with sleep and nightmares or relaxation/breathing to help with anxiety, but exposure therapy directly addresses the link between the trauma and the symptoms. As noted earlier, traumas are life-threatening events, where the individual experiences the most intense emotions of her life. An important part of survival during the trauma event requires the individual to numb these intense