Cognitive Processing Therapy
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for Birth Trauma & Perinatal PTSD
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based, structured form of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. It helps individuals process painful events and shift the beliefs that keep them stuck in shame, fear, or emotional numbness. At The Mother Hood, we offer CPT to support parents in Los Angeles and across California who are navigating birth trauma, NICU experiences, pregnancy loss, or postpartum PTSD.
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What Is CPT?
CPT helps you understand how trauma has affected your thoughts, identity, and emotional responses. Often after trauma, we create meaning around what happened—like “I failed,” “I’m unsafe,” or “I can’t trust my body”—and those beliefs can hold us in a loop of distress.
CPT supports you in:
• Identifying stuck points—rigid beliefs or self-blame linked to trauma
• Examining those beliefs with compassion and logic
• Rewriting your internal story from a place of strength, not fear
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CPT for Perinatal Trauma
You might benefit from CPT if you’ve experienced:
• A traumatic or emergency birth
• Medical trauma during pregnancy, labor, or postpartum
• Feeling violated or unheard during delivery
• NICU hospitalization
• Pregnancy loss or stillbirth
• Intense shame, fear, or guilt tied to your birth story
CPT helps reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while also helping you rebuild trust in yourself, your body, and the future.
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What CPT Looks Like at The Mother Hood
Our perinatal therapists are trained in trauma-informed care and understand how trauma in the reproductive journey uniquely affects mothers and birthing parents.
With CPT, we guide you through a structured, step-by-step process:
✅ Write and share your trauma narrative in a safe, supported way
✅ Identify where you feel stuck—especially around safety, trust, power, control, esteem, or intimacy
✅ Challenge trauma-related beliefs with curiosity and evidence
✅ Reclaim your story with greater clarity, compassion, and self-acceptance
You do not have to “move on” before you’re ready. CPT helps you move through what happened so it no longer defines you.