We offer Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. TF-CBT is an evidence-based therapy that has been shown to be effective in helping children and adolescents recover from traumatic experiences and build resilience. Contact us today to learn more about how TF-CBT can help your child on the path to healing and recovery.
What is Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy?
TF-CBT, created by Cohen and colleagues in 2006 (Cohen, Mannarino, Murray, & Igelman, 2006), addresses symptoms of PTSD among children and adolescents, as well as other trauma-related outcomes (Cohen et al., 2010).
TF-CBT was developed for children between the ages of 3 and 18 years, with specific consideration for the child's developmental level. TF-CBT is comprised of 8 to 20 individual sessions conducted with the child or their parent/caregiver, as well as joint sessions with both the child and the parent/caregiver (Cohen et al., 2010). The goal of TF-CBT is to help adolescents learn the skills that they will need to master the stress that is brought on by traumatic memories.
The goal of this therapy is to help these youth in mastering their reaction to things that may remind them of the trauma and ultimately move them beyond victimization. TF-CBT is a component-based model and can be summarize using the acronym “PRACTICE.” During treatment, the traumatized child is provided with psychoeducation, taught relaxation skills, affective expression and modulation, and cognitive coping skills. In addition, they are encouraged to use trauma narration and cognitively process the trauma, use in vivo exposure to master trauma reminders, have conjoint parent–child sessions, and enhance safety and the trajectory of development (Cohen et al., 2010).