Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of talk therapy that helps you deal with uncomfortable feelings and thoughts, especially after experiencing Trauma or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

CBT focuses on how your thoughts, feelings, and actions are connected and teaches you how to change negative thoughts into more positive ones.

We will help you determine if CBT is the best therapy for your unique needs. We'll give you the highest-quality In-Person and Telehealth CBT Trauma and PTSD Therapy available in Pennsylvania.

Our Trauma and PTSD specialists will provide the services you need to get better and reclaim your life after Trauma.

You are not alone; healing is possible, and your healing starts here.

• Understanding Your Feelings: We start by discussing your experiences and how they affect you. This discussion helps us understand what you’re going through.
• Spotting the Problem: CBT helps you identify negative or unhelpful thought patterns causing problems in your life. These could be things like:
  • Always expecting the worst,
  • Blaming yourself for everything, or
  • Thinking in black-and-white terms
• Changing Negative Thoughts: You’ll learn to spot and challenge negative thoughts that make you feel worse. Once you've identified these negative thoughts, CBT teaches you how to challenge them. You learn to ask yourself:
  • Is this thought true?
  • Is there another way to look at this situation?
  • What's the evidence for and against this thought?

• Facing Your Fears: Gradually, you’ll face memories or situations that make you anxious in a safe way, which helps reduce fear and anxiety over time.
• Learning New Skills: CBT also focuses on changing unhelpful behaviors you have linked to those negative thoughts and feelings. You’ll gain tools to manage stress and anxiety that you can use in everyday life. These tools might involve:
  • Facing your fears instead of avoiding them.
  • Trying new things and stepping outside your comfort zone.
  • Practicing relaxation techniques
• Staying Strong: We’ll create a plan to help you keep making progress and handle any challenges that come up in the future.

• Proven to Work: Studies show that CBT is one of the best treatments for PTSD, helping many people feel better and live happier lives.
• Empowerment: CBT helps you take control of your thoughts and feelings, making you feel stronger and more confident.

• Quick Results: Many people start to feel better in just a few weeks, making CBT a fast and effective option.
• Personalized Care: ACRS therapists will work with you to create a plan that fits your unique needs and goals.

Who Can Benefit from CBT?

CBT is helpful for anyone who has gone through a traumatic experience, like veterans, survivors of abuse, or first responders. If you’re dealing with symptoms like flashbacks, nightmares, or feeling anxious, CBT can help you find relief.

Get Started Today!

If you or someone you know is looking for help with Trauma or PTSD, ACRS is here for you. Contact us today to set up a meeting and take the first step toward feeling better.

• Brainspotting Therapy: Brainspotting operates on the principle that where you look affects how you feel. The therapist helps clients identify "brainspots," which are eye positions linked to stored emotional experiences or Trauma in the brain. By maintaining focus on the brainspot while encouraging mindfulness and connection, the brain processes and releases unresolved emotions at a deep, neurobiological level. Brainspotting leverages the brain's natural ability to heal, mainly targeting the subcortical regions responsible for emotional and sensory processing. It is effective for a variety of challenges, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, and performance issues. The method is compassionate, client-centered, and adaptable, making it suitable for individuals of all ages. Brainspotting promotes long-lasting healing and personal growth by fostering self-awareness and emotional regulation.
  
  
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): CBT addresses fears, worries, or irrational thoughts fueling Anxiety, helping you develop coping strategies to manage symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety. CBT is a short-term, goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that takes a hands-on, practical approach to problem-solving. Its core principle is that your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected, and negative thoughts and behaviors can trap you in cycles of distress. CBT helps you identify and challenge these unhelpful thought patterns and develop healthier coping mechanisms. Through techniques like cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, and exposure therapy, CBT empowers you to change your thinking and behavior, leading to improved mood and reduced symptoms of various mental health conditions like Anxiety and Depression.
  
  
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy designed to help you manage intense emotions and improve relationships. It emphasizes the synthesis of acceptance and change, teaching individuals to accept their current emotional state while working towards positive change. DBT focuses on developing four core skill sets: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. These skills help you navigate challenging situations, cope with overwhelming emotions, and build healthier relationships. DBT is particularly effective if you're struggling with borderline personality disorder, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts.
  
  
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is a psychotherapy approach used to treat Trauma and other distressing life experiences. It involves recalling disturbing memories while focusing on bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, taps, or sounds. This process helps the brain reprocess the traumatic memories, reducing their emotional intensity and negative impact. EMDR is effective for PTSD, anxiety, phobias, and other mental health conditions. It aims to desensitize you to traumatic memories and replace negative beliefs with positive ones, fostering healing and emotional regulation.
  
  
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE): Prolonged Exposure (PE) Therapy is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) used to treat PTSD and other Anxiety disorders. It involves gradually confronting the feared memories and situations you have avoided since the Trauma. Through repeated exposure in a safe and controlled environment, your Anxiety associated with these triggers diminishes over time. PE also involves processing your traumatic memory by talking about it in detail, which helps to reduce its emotional power. This combination of imaginal and in-vivo (real-life) exposure enables you to regain control and reduce the impact of Anxiety, PTSD, and Trauma on your life.
  
  
• Mindfulness Techniques: Help you develop present-moment awareness to manage overwhelming emotions and trauma-related symptoms. These techniques encourage nonjudgmental observation of thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations, fostering a sense of safety and self-compassion.

• Narrative Therapy: Narrative therapy helps you through Trauma by focusing on stories you tell about your life. After something traumatic happens, it’s common to think of yourself negatively, like feeling weak, broken, or to blame. Narrative therapy encourages you to see the Trauma as something that happened to you, not something that defines who you are.
  
  Working with an ACRS therapist, you explore your life story and look for moments of strength, courage, or things that show who you really are, beyond the Trauma. You can rewrite your story to focus on your resilience and the positive qualities that helped you survive.
  
  This process enables you to take control of your life and see yourself more hopefully. Instead of being stuck in the painful parts of your past, narrative therapy helps you shape a future where healing and growth are possible.
  
  
• Psychoeducation: Helps you understand how Trauma affects your brain, body, emotions, and behavior. It empowers you by teaching that your reactions—like anxiety, flashbacks, or feeling "stuck"—are normal responses to abnormal events. Clients can view their symptoms as survival mechanisms rather than personal failures by learning about the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses.
  
  Psychoeducation often includes information about the nervous system, triggers, and why it's challenging to "just move on" after experiencing Trauma. It also introduces strategies for self-regulation, such as grounding techniques and mindfulness, to help manage overwhelming emotions.
  
  Understanding the science behind Trauma and your body's response can make you feel more empowered, gain clarity, and become an active participant in your healing journey, building a foundation for trust and further therapeutic work.
  
  
• Relaxation Techniques: Help ease heightened nervous system responses and promote a sense of safety.
  • Deep breathing slows breathing patterns to activate the relaxation response, calming the body and mind.
  • Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) involves tensing and relaxing muscle groups to release physical tension and increase body awareness.
  • Guided Imagery uses visualization of safe or soothing environments to create a mental escape from distress.
  • Grounding techniques engage the five senses (e.g., noticing sounds, textures) to anchor you in the present and reduce dissociation. Additionally,
  • Mindful Movement practices, such as gentle stretching or yoga, encourage safe reconnection with the body.
• Somatic Experiencing (SE): SE is a therapeutic approach that aids in healing from trauma by emphasizing the connection between the body and mind. After experiencing something frightening or overwhelming, your body may become stuck in "survival mode," causing feelings of tension, anxiety, or numbness. This state can persist even after the danger has passed.
  
  In SE, a therapist guides you to pay attention to your bodily sensations, such as a racing heart, tight muscles, or feelings of shakiness. By gradually acknowledging these sensations in small steps, your body can begin to release some of the stress or "trapped energy" associated with the trauma. This process helps your body complete what it couldn't during the initial frightening experience.
  
  Ultimately, Somatic Experiencing helps you feel calmer, more in control, and safer within your body. The method unfolds gently and at your own pace, assisting in the repair of trauma's effects.