Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based therapeutic approach that addresses the needs of individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder and other difficulties related to traumatic life events, developed and proposed by Anthony Mannarino, Judith Cohen and Esther Deblinger in the 1990s. Its goal is to provide psychoeducation to both the victim and non-offending caregivers, then help them identify, cope with and re-regulate maladaptive emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Research has shown it effective in treating childhood PTSD in children who have experienced or witnessed traumatic events including physical or sexual victimization, maltreatment, domestic violence, community violence, accidents, natural disasters and war, and while originally studied in children and adolescents its use has since expanded to adult patients and to complex post-traumatic stress disorder.