All the therapists listed on the PTSDhelp directory have agreed to provide their professional services for no more than £35.00 Per individual therapy session to UK service personnel serving or retired who are affected by PTSD.

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What is CBT

Cognitive behaviour therapy is a talking treatment. It's sometimes called CBT for short. Your GP may be able to refer you to someone trained in this technique.

If you have this treatment, your therapist works with you to help you understand and change the ways of thinking that are making you upset or making it hard to get on with your life.

For example, if you were attacked on your way home from work, you may be afraid that you will be attacked again every time you walk down the street where the attack happened. Your therapist will work with you to help you realise that this won't actually happen.

You will probably have between about eight and 12 sessions with a therapist.

One part of cognitive behaviour therapy is called exposure therapy. It is sometimes used on its own to treat people who have PTSD.

How can it help?

If you have PTSD, treatment with cognitive behaviour therapy is likely to help you feel better. It may help you in the following ways:

· You may feel less depressed and anxious

· Your symptoms may not be as severe

· You are more likely to recover completely from PTSD

· Your symptoms may start to get better soon after you begin treatment.

Why should it work?

We are not sure why this treatment helps people with PTSD. But it may help you.

· Face what you have been through so you learn to stop being afraid of it

· Learn that you can cope and don't need to avoid thinking about what happened

· Stop feeling threatened, because you realise that you actually survived a frightening event

· Look at the thoughts that are making you upset and change them so you can start to get on with your life.

Can it be harmful?

In the studies we looked at there wasn't any information about side effects.

It can sometimes be difficult to talk about a traumatic event. Some people drop out of therapy part way through. If you have a type of CBT where you imagine you are reliving the trauma you went through then this may even make your symptoms worse. This type of therapy is called imaginal flooding. But CBT usually helps people with PTSD. People don't seem to get any long-term problems because of it.