Cognitive processing therapy with a prelingually deaf patient suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder

This case study describes the treatment of a prelingually deaf patient suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using cognitive processing therapy (CPT). A 42-year-old woman who had experienced a severe accident several years earlier presented with moderate PTSD symptoms. She was treated with CPT by a therapist experienced in working with PTSD patients but not with deaf patients. A sign language interpreter aided treatment. After 20 sessions, the patient chose to end treatment because she felt she had sufficiently profited from it. The case study shows that, with the help of a professional sign language interpreter, a structured cognitive-behavioral treatment such as CPT can be successfully implemented with a deaf patient.