<p>While there are major issues surrounding CBT in general, and the clinical studies (see <a href="https://psychology.stackexchange.com/a/17325/7604">my answer to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Limitations</a>), the UK charity Mind, points out (<a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/treatment/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mind, n.d.</a>) that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)</a> – the organisation that produces guidelines on best practice in health care – currently recommends [<a href="https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg26" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in guideline CG26</a>] two types of talking treatment for PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of them being trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specifically adapted for PTSD. NICE recommends that you are offered 8–12 regular sessions of around 60–90 minutes, seeing the same therapist at least once a week.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For the studies on weekly therapy, see <a href="https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/19236/7604">Why is almost all therapy done as one-hour sessions weekly?</a></p>
<p>The American Psychological Association (APA) has a write-up on how CBT can supposedly be used to treat PTSD (<a href="https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">APA, n.d.</a>) and they reference a book <em>CBT for anxiety disorders: A practitioner book</em> with a section on the subject of TF-CBT (<a href="http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470975520.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ehlers, 2013</a>)</p>
<p>While a lot of studies on TF-CBT have been focused on supporting child sufferers of PTSD, it reportedly is effective for adults too (<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00048670701449161" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Forbes et al., 2007</a>) - <a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.529.2632&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Free PDF available</a> from The Pennsylvania State University</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[W]hile psychoeducation, AM [Anxiety Management] and SIT [Stress Inoculation Training] were not as effective as trauma focused CBT or EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing] as stand-alone interventions, elements of these interventions may well have a role as part of a broader trauma-focused treatment. While models of brief trauma-focused psychodynamic therapy have been developed, they have not been sufficiently tested in controlled studies to derive practice recommendations. Supportive counselling and hypnotherapy have not been found to be effective as stand-alone interventions when compared to trauma-focused CBT or EMDR.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>References</h2>
<p>APA (n.d.). <em>Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)</em> <a href="https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy</a></p>
<p>Ehlers, A. (2013). Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. In Simos, G., &amp; Hofmann, S. G. (eds). <em>CBT for anxiety disorders: A practitioner book</em> (pp. 161-190). New York, NY: Wiley. <a href="http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470975520.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470975520.html</a></p>
<p>Forbes, D., Creamer, M., Phelps, A., Bryant, R., McFarlane, A., Devilly, G. J., ... &amp; Newton, S. (2007). Australian guidelines for the treatment of adults with acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. <em>Australian &amp; New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 41</em>(8), 637-648. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00048670701449161" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00048670701449161</a></p>
<p>Mind (n.d.). <em>Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)</em> <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/treatment/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/treatment/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-05-03T12:06:04.623Z
2021-05-03T14:33:40.203Z
2021-05-03T14:33:40.203Z
Chris Rogers
<p>Can <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_focused_cognitive_behavioral_therapy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Trauma‐Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF CBT)</a> be used for adults? I've been told that it is applicable to adults but the literature I've found is all focused on children. Has anyone found this used in connection with adults?</p>
<p><strong>Reference</strong></p>
<p>Deblinger, E., Mannarino, A.P., Cohen, J.A., Runyon, M.K. and Steer, R.A. (2011), Trauma‐focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children: impact of the trauma narrative and treatment length. Depress. Anxiety, 28: 67-75. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20744" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20744</a></p>

<cbt>
Is Trauma‐Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy applicable to adults?
Mark
# Is Trauma‐Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy applicable to adults?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-04-25)

Can [Trauma‐Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF CBT)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trauma_focused_cognitive_behavioral_therapy) be used for adults? I've been told that it is applicable to adults but the literature I've found is all focused on children. Has anyone found this used in connection with adults?

**Reference**

Deblinger, E., Mannarino, A.P., Cohen, J.A., Runyon, M.K. and Steer, R.A. (2011), Trauma‐focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children: impact of the trauma narrative and treatment length. Depress. Anxiety, 28: 67-75. <https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20744>

**Tags:** cbt


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-05-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

While there are major issues surrounding CBT in general, and the clinical studies (see [my answer to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Limitations](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/a/17325/7604)), the UK charity Mind, points out ([Mind, n.d.](https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/treatment/)) that:

> [The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)](https://www.nice.org.uk/) – the organisation that produces guidelines on best practice in health care – currently recommends [[in guideline CG26](https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg26)] two types of talking treatment for PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]

One of them being trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT):

> This is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specifically adapted for PTSD. NICE recommends that you are offered 8–12 regular sessions of around 60–90 minutes, seeing the same therapist at least once a week.

For the studies on weekly therapy, see [Why is almost all therapy done as one-hour sessions weekly?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/q/19236/7604)

The American Psychological Association (APA) has a write-up on how CBT can supposedly be used to treat PTSD ([APA, n.d.](https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy)) and they reference a book *CBT for anxiety disorders: A practitioner book* with a section on the subject of TF-CBT ([Ehlers, 2013](http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470975520.html))

While a lot of studies on TF-CBT have been focused on supporting child sufferers of PTSD, it reportedly is effective for adults too ([Forbes et al., 2007](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00048670701449161)) - [Free PDF available](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.529.2632&rep=rep1&type=pdf) from The Pennsylvania State University

> [W]hile psychoeducation, AM [Anxiety Management] and SIT [Stress Inoculation Training] were not as effective as trauma focused CBT or EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing] as stand-alone interventions, elements of these interventions may well have a role as part of a broader trauma-focused treatment. While models of brief trauma-focused psychodynamic therapy have been developed, they have not been sufficiently tested in controlled studies to derive practice recommendations. Supportive counselling and hypnotherapy have not been found to be effective as stand-alone interventions when compared to trauma-focused CBT or EMDR.

## References

APA (n.d.). *Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)* <https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy>

Ehlers, A. (2013). Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. In Simos, G., & Hofmann, S. G. (eds). *CBT for anxiety disorders: A practitioner book* (pp. 161-190). New York, NY: Wiley. <http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470975520.html>

Forbes, D., Creamer, M., Phelps, A., Bryant, R., McFarlane, A., Devilly, G. J., ... & Newton, S. (2007). Australian guidelines for the treatment of adults with acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. *Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 41*(8), 637-648. <https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00048670701449161>

Mind (n.d.). *Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)* <https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/treatment/>


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