Write an impact statement — why the trauma happened and how it affected you

A written account of the meaning you made of the trauma is CPT’s starting point for finding stuck points.

Why it works

The impact statement externalizes the narrative that has been running privately — often in fragmented, shame-laden, or blame-structured form. Writing it makes the meaning explicit and visible rather than implicit and unexamined. The therapist (or user) then reads it to identify the stuck points embedded in the meaning-making: the "why" attributions, the global conclusions, the places where the narrative has hardened into fixed belief.

How to do it

1. Write approximately one page on: "Why do you think the traumatic event happened? And how has it affected your beliefs about yourself, others, and the world?"
2. Do not write a detailed account of the event itself — focus on your understanding of it and its meaning.
3. Write without editing or self-censoring.
4. Read it back and circle or underline absolute language, self-blame, and global generalizations — those are where your stuck points live.

Evidence

The impact statement is the foundational intake exercise in CPT, used in all major CPT trials. Its clinical function is well established in the protocol; as a standalone writing exercise separate from the full protocol, its independent effect has not been measured. Resick & Schnicke (1992), the original controlled study establishing CPT, introduced the impact statement as the protocol’s opening step for surfacing trauma-related meaning. (clinical)

The impact statement is most useful as the beginning of a structured process; reading it without the subsequent stuck-point examination and restructuring may not produce therapeutic benefit on its own.

Sources

• Resick et al. (2017), CPT Therapist and Patient Manuals, Guilford Press
• Resick, P. A., & Schnicke, M. K. (1992). Cognitive processing therapy for sexual assault victims. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60(5), 748-756.

Common mistake

Writing a factual account of what happened instead of an account of what you believe about why it happened and what it means. The impact statement is about meaning, not events.