Introduction: Intensive or massed Cognitive Processing
Therapy (
CPT) for
posttraumatic stress disorder (
PTSD) has been found to result in significant
PTSD symptom reductions. However, few studies to date have used qualitative approaches to systematically evaluate client reflections about massed treatment approaches for
PTSD. To address this gap, the present study aimed to improve our understanding of
trauma survivors' reflections following the completion of 1-week
CPT.Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven
trauma survivors within 3-months of the completion of 1-week
CPT. We used the scissor-and-sort technique to identify themes and subthemes in the qualitative data.Results: Using the scissor-and-sort technique, we generated five main themes and associated subthemes from the data. The main themes were: (a) tangible skills, (b) feasibility, (c) therapeutic process, (d) symptom presentation, and (e) treatment expectations.Conclusion: Collectively, our results suggested that 1-week
CPT was feasible and led to changes in
PTSD symptoms and improved cognitive and affective coping skills.