Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD, sometimes abbreviated to c-PTSD or CPTSD) is a condition where you experience some symptoms of PTSD along with some additional symptoms, such as: difficulty controlling your emotions. feeling very angry or distrustful towards the world.

You’ll usually have 8 to 12 weekly sessions of trauma-focused CBT, although fewer may be needed. Sessions usually last for around 60 to 90 minutes.

In this supportive, home-like setting, patients will work with treatment teams to develop skills needed to face challenges and find the resilience to achieve and maintain recovery. A typical length of stay in residential trauma treatment programs is 30 to 90 days.

However, PTSD involves the sustained presence of these mental health problems over a longer period. In order to meet diagnostic criteria for PTSD, veterans’ symptoms must last for at least one month; often, they persist for years. Additionally, symptoms do not necessarily begin immediately following the trauma.

How Long Does Treatment Last? CPT usually takes 12 weekly sessions, so treatment lasts about 3 months. Sessions are 60 to 90 minutes each. You may start to feel better after a few sessions.

Triggers can include sights, sounds, smells, or thoughts that remind you of the traumatic event in some way. Some PTSD triggers are obvious, such as seeing a news report of an assault. Others are less clear. For example, if you were attacked on a sunny day, seeing a bright blue sky might make you upset.

For some, PTSD can last more than 12 months, and in a few cases, PTSD can last more than 50 years (Viet Nam Veterans Still Living with PTSD 40+ Years Later).

What are Stuck Points? Stuck points are statements about yourself, others, or the world at large that are exaggerated, extreme, and often negative. They tend to focus on the five themes covered in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) treatment, which are safety, trust, power/control, esteem, and intimacy.

Those participants who received CPT demonstrated significantly more improvement in PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, guilt, and social adjustment. Forty percent of Veterans who received CPT no longer had PTSD by the end of treatment.

PTSD Program. Please click on a state in the map (below) to find programs in a given state. NOTE: All VA Medical Centers offer PTSD treatment, even if there is no specific PTSD program. Contact your local VA Medical Center and ask for the Mental Health clinic. Many Vet Centers and VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics also offer PTSD treatment.

VA Shuts Down Long-Term PTSD Therapy For 12-Week Talk Therapy. The agency says specialized 12-week talk therapy is an effective PTSD treatment that is evidence-based. These shortened therapy approaches will now replace the open-ended PTSD therapy treatment enjoyed by many veterans.

NOTE: All VA Medical Centers offer PTSD treatment, even if there is no specific PTSD program. Contact your local VA Medical Center and ask for the Mental Health clinic. Many Vet Centers and VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics also offer PTSD treatment.

What Type of Treatment Is This? Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is one specific type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It is a 12-session psychotherapy for PTSD. CPT teaches you how to evaluate and change the upsetting thoughts you have had since your trauma.