Cognitive Processing Therapy for Childbirth-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Cognitive Processing Therapy for Childbirth-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether participation in an individual 8-session cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is feasible, acceptable, and leads to clinically meaningful trauma symptom reduction in individuals experiencing childbirth-related trauma.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Is it feasible for women and birthing people to attend and complete an 8-session course of CPT delivered virtually within a specialized women's mental health clinic?
2. Do participants find this modified 8-session CPT protocol acceptable and helpful?
3. Does the treatment lead to clinically meaningful reductions in childbirth-related posttraumatic stress and related symptoms?

Participants will be asked to:

1. Attend 8 weekly sessions of individual CPT for childbirth-related trauma
2. Complete a self-report measure of trauma symptoms weekly (i.e., the PCL-5)
3. Complete additional symptom questionnaires at baseline, post-treatment, and at one-month follow-up.
4. Complete a brief qualitative interview one week after treatment to share feedback on their experience

Inclusion Criteria:

• women/birthing people aged 18 years and older who are fluent in English (able to speak/understand and read English), and who are at least one month postpartum
• either indicate clinical levels of PTSD related to a traumatic birth (i.e., 31 or higher on the PCL-5) or endorse significant distress or impairment as a result of their traumatic childbirth experience
• not receiving concurrent psychological treatment
• not taking psychoactive medication or if taking medications, are stable in dose and type for at least 8 weeks prior to the study (as per Canadian psychiatric guidelines; McQueen et al., 2016) and remain stable throughout the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• severe depression/suicidality requiring acute intervention
• medication changes in dose or type