PTSD ABC Worksheets: Examples and Resources

Understanding and Using ABC Worksheets For PTSD Symptoms

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a structured and effective approach in reducing PTSD symptoms. It helps people struggling to cope with traumatic events by teaching them to identify and log “stuck points,” maladaptive cognitive patterns that hold them back, and change them. Clients in therapy often use PTSD ABC worksheets to support this cognitive restructuring process.

Individuals dealing with traumatic experiences sometimes need professional help restoring their emotional well-being. That’s where the team at Icarus New Mexico comes in. Receiving trauma-informed care at our accredited treatment facility in Albuquerque helps people develop a healthier perspective, ultimately leading to a reduction in negative thoughts.

We invite you to join us and learn more about how cognitive processing therapy (CPT) can change distorted beliefs related to the traumatic event and improve post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Our Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Worksheets

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a subtype of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aimed at changing cognitive distortions. The theory is that untrue automatic thoughts may develop after someone has experienced trauma. This evidence-based therapy for PTSD helps individuals understand how their interpretations of the traumatic events may block the trauma recovery process.

These worksheets are here to help you identify your unhelpful beliefs. However, completing Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) without fully engaging in a therapy process with a specialized therapist will rarely change those maladaptive beliefs.

You should seek the services of a mental health professional skilled in facilitating the CPT protocol, who can answer any questions you have along the way. After completing your CPT worksheets, please contact our admissions team for additional information. You are ready for healing.

You’ll Follow Marie’s Recovery Journey While Exploring Your Own Cognitive Distortions

As we explain each page of our cognitive distortions and unhelpful emotions handouts, you will meet ‘Marie,’ who is going through the therapy process with a trauma-informed treatment professional facilitating her journey. Marie fled her country when its government collapsed and insurgents gained control. She had been a successful nurse practitioner back home and had enough money saved to get to the United States.

She had seen the insurgents maim and kill indiscriminately, but she hesitated because she did not want to leave her aging parents. But before Marie could leave, she had been the victim of a sexual assault so brutal that the attackers had left her for dead.

After her assault, Marie’s parents urged her to leave and start a safe new life. Today, Marie is settled and safe in with ongoing mental health support in Albuquerque, where she has continues the therapeutic process at Icarus New Mexico with outpatient programs.

ABC Worksheet 1: Writing an Initial Impact Statement Puts You in an Active Role in Recovery

The first step of the CPT healing journey usually includes writing an impact statement. This helps clients actively describe how their traumatic events have changed them. For example, they may have negative thinking patterns about their safety, trust, power structures, self-esteem, and relationships.

The first impact statement gives the counselor a sneak peek at the thought processes, helping them begin consider how they can customize therapy sessions.

Marie’s Initial Impact Statement:

• I no longer feel safe, even when I’m in my own apartment with my roommate.
• My trust in others is limited, especially because nobody tried to help me.
• I don’t trust that the authorities can protect my rights.
• The feelings I have hurt my self-esteem and my ability to form new friendships in the United States.

ABC Worksheet 2: Stuck Point Log of Maladaptive Beliefs Related to Traumatic Events

The stuck point log is a central part of cognitive processing therapy, as it helps them with identifying emotions and beliefs related to the trauma. These “stuck points,” or unhelpful beliefs and thinking patterns, keep people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a state of distress. They can lead to negative thoughts, self-blame, and severe anxiety or depression.

Besides identifying these beliefs, this handout challenges clients to find evidence that their beliefs related to trauma are true or disprove them once and for all. Once they accomplish this, the client is ready to move ahead in cognitive processing therapy and other treatment modalities.

Marie’s Stuck Points and Unhelpful Beliefs

• I no longer trust others enough to accept help, even when I need it. I still carry so much distress and shame, as if I’m unworthy of others.
• My evidence is how my attackers treated me. I don’t know for sure that others would have behaved this way without facing consequences. I still feel so much distress and shame.
• To be fair, nobody ever attacked or hurt me until this horrible incident. In my country, our community often worked together to accomplish projects.
• I should trust other people until they give me reason not to.

ABC Worksheet 3: ABC Worksheets – the Identifying Emotions Handout

The next page is often called the ABC worksheet because it follows a format that separates the emotional responses and behaviors associated with trauma into three parts:

• A: Activating event, or what happened to elicit an emotional response.
• B: Beliefs or thoughts about the event; your internalized feelings
• C: Consequences or behaviors related to the traumatic experience; what you felt or did in response to the activating event

The identifying emotions handout shows clients that there are two aspects to the story of their trauma: what actually happened and how they interpret it. People with trauma can confuse these two things, causing even more unfounded beliefs related to their trauma.

Marie’s ABC Worksheet:

• A: I was sexually assaulted, beaten, and left for dead by some men. Nobody standing by tried to stop them or help me.
• B: During the attack, I wondered if I’d really die and wondered who would tell my parents.
• C: Afterward, I felt both angry about what happened and ashamed.

ABC Worksheet 4: Identify Problematic Thinking Patterns

Cognitive restructuring cannot begin until the client understands the negative consequences of their beliefs and thoughts. This sheet assists cognitive processing therapy by asking clients to take a close and honest look at their belief system and recognize their cognitive distortions.

Why is this important? Traumatic experiences can reinforce an internal negativity bias, making people with post-traumatic stress disorder believe their thoughts or feelings are facts. Once clients can identify these issues, they become empowered to challenge them and adopt a healthier perspective. This shift helps clients make overall improvements in therapy.

Marie Identifies Her Problematic Thoughts

Marie circled the following types of negative beliefs and thought patterns:

• All-or-nothing thinking
• Taking things personally
• Catastrophizing

ABC Worksheet 5: Post-Cognitive Processing Therapy Impact Statement

After completing the previous cognitive processing therapy worksheets, you have one challenge left to complete. You’ll print an additional copy of the Impact Statement worksheet and update it to reflect your new outcomes. This last sheet helps your therapist check the effectiveness of your treatment.

Marie’s Post-Therapy Impact Statement

• I am willing to take a chance on finding help for my PTSD symptoms.
• I’ll trust the therapist; I have nothing to lose as a consequence of seeking help.
• I still have some mistrust or authority, but I’m becoming ready for change.
• I’ve gained understanding that I’m not to blame for my attack; many people in my country have shared experiences because of the same insurgents. I was a random victim.

Understanding the Structure of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

CPT, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy focused on healing distress from trauma, is time-limited, lasting just 12 sessions. Therapists can work with individuals, peer groups, or a combination of both. The sessions heavily emphasize writing exercises and worksheets, which may mean some homework assignments. CPT is a proven therapy for reducing PTSD symptoms to help trauma victims enjoy better mental health.

Reach Out to Icarus New Mexico for Help to Reduce the Impact of Trauma

It can feel lonely to face life struggles after experiencing trauma. But with the trauma-informed PTSD treatment programs and compassionate team from Icarus New Mexico at your side, you will be better prepared to disarm the self-doubt, guilt, and negative world views you may hold.

It’s time to get your life back and feel whole again. You deserve it.

Call our admissions team for more information about trauma treatment at Icarus New Mexico. We’re here to answer all your questions and tell you more about our programs. Your conversation is free and confidential.

FAQs about the ABCs of Cognitive Processing Therapy

Here are some questions our admissions team often gets regarding CPT for helping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD):

Where Did CPT Come From?

Dr. Patricia Resick, who holds a Doctorate in Psychology, developed CPT in the late 1980s. She created her therapeutic method specifically to help survivors of sexual assaults in their recovery. She hoped to achieve this by addressing how trauma alters one’s beliefs and thoughts.

How Does CPT Differ From Traditional Talk Therapy?

Unlike open-ended discussions, CPT therapists provide a structured setting. They focus on specific worksheets and exercises to help patients cope with their negative beliefs after trauma. This form of therapy for PTSD guides clients down a clear pathway to healing.

What Clients Might Benefit From CPT?

CPT is proven in patients with trauma from multiple causes, including childhood abuse, combat trauma, assaults, and unexpected accidents or illnesses. It’s appropriate for anyone, with the structured setting allowing most clients to thrive.

Is CPT Hard Because of the Possible Emotional Responses?

CPT does not ask clients to retell every detail of the trauma. Instead, it asks patients to consider how the traumatic events have changed their beliefs and interpretations of the world around them. Some emotional discomfort is typical, but treatment professionals will be there to guide the process.

What Specifically Happens in CPT Trauma Treatment Sessions?

Therapists facilitating the trauma treatment guide clients as they:

• Identify cognitive distortions about the trauma
• Complete worksheets like the ones we discussed earlier
• Write about the impact of trauma on the client’s life
• Challenge and reframe distressing thoughts

The perspective clients gain when following the CPT protocol helps them restore their mental health after trauma.