This study compared the cognitions of 37 female rape survivors before and after completing cognitive processing therapy (CPT). It was hypothesized that CPT would be associated with reductions in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and problematic (i.e., assimilated and overaccommodated) thoughts as well as increases in the number of realistic (i.e., accommodated) cognitions. Cognitions were assessed via coding and analyses of participants' written impact statements at the beginning and end of treatment. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale and PTSD Symptom Scale. As predicted, there were significant increases in accommodated statements and significant decreases in overaccommodated and assimilated statements. The hypothesis that cognitive changes would be related to symptom reduction was partially supported.A growing body of research has explored the relationship between traumatic events and subsequent cognitions. For instance, survivors sometimes exhibit self-blaming thoughts and guilt about actions that they did or did not engage in during a traumatic incident (Foa, Ehlers, Clark, Tolin, & Orsillo, 1999;Frazier & Schauben, 1994;Janoff-Bulman & Wortman, 1977;Kubany, 1994;Resick, Nishith, Weaver, Astin, & Feuer, 2002;Resick & Schnicke, 1993). Because of their experiences, survivors sometimes develop cognitive distortions, which are inaccurate thoughts. Foa and Rothbaum (1997) proposed that posttrauma cognitions can be classified into two general categories: beliefs that the world is dangerous and thoughts about being incompetent. A more elaborated theory by McCann, Sakheim, and Abrahamson (1988) delineated trauma-related cognitive distortions in five areas: agency-which refers to the attributed cause of a traumatic event-safety, trust, power, esteem, and intimacy.Consistent with the cognitive processing theories of McCann and Pearlman (1990), Resick and Schnicke (1993) suggested that when individuals are confronted with new information that is inconsistent with preexisting schemas (i.e., stored bodies of knowledge), one of two processes occurs: assimilation or accommodation. Piaget (1987) was the first to describe these two processes. Assimilation is the incorporation or alteration of new information to fit into existing schemas. Accommodation is the modification of existing schemas to incorporate new events and information. In trauma survivors, these processes often involve the themes of agency, safety, trust, power, esteem, and intimacy. Resick and Schnicke (1993) proposed that although accommodation is necessary to integrate a new event, traumatized individuals sometimes overaccommodate trauma-relevant information. They noted that overaccommodation occurs when schema changes are inaccurate and overgeneralized. For instance, an overaccommodated belief is that people are either totally in control or out of control of life events.Assimilation, on the other hand, can occur by incorporating new, unchanged information into a preexisting sch...

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