Main description:

Cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, assert that traumatized individuals make problematic appraisals about their experiences that potentially impede recovery from trauma. Individuals with PTSD develop over-generalized and negative conclusions based on traumatic events in areas such as safety, trust, and intimacy.

Unlike anxiety-based or emotional-processing theories of PTSD, which are the foundation of exposure-based interventions, cognitive theories hold that PTSD is not a disorder of anxiety, but is instead characterized by emotional and physiological dysregulation that can be remedied with cognitive interventions.

In this video, Dr. Candice M. Monson employs cognitive behavioral therapy interventions with a woman who is suffering from PTSD after the tragic loss of her son.