CBT Strategies for Trauma and Addiction

When trauma and addiction collide in the same client, treatment becomes more complicated, progress slows, and relapse risk increases—especially when unresolved emotional wounds and destructive coping cycles feed one another. This training equips you with a trauma-informed CBT framework to interrupt these patterns at their root rather than chasing symptoms session after session.

If you frequently work with clients who “numb out,” self-medicate, or cycle between PTSD symptoms and addictive behaviors, this course offers a structured, research-informed way to conceptualize and treat co-occurring trauma and substance use with greater clarity and confidence.

Jeff Riggenbach, Ph.D., trained at The Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and has spent over 20 years developing and directing cognitive-behaviorally based treatment programs for Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Addictive Behavior Disorders, and Personality Disorders in psychiatric hospitals and clinics. He and his staff have treated hundreds of individuals struggling with trauma and addiction in both individual and dual diagnosis intensive outpatient settings. His depth of experience directly informs this course’s focus on maladaptive schemas, behavioral pattern-breaking, impulse control, and integrated trauma-addiction treatment models.

Utilizing didactic teaching, case studies, and humor, Dr. Riggenbach takes “top shelf” academic and research findings and puts them on the “bottom shelf” so clinicians can practically apply them with real-world clients. Participants will learn to conceptualize trauma and addiction through a cognitive and schema-informed lens, develop individualized case formulations, and apply structured interventions that target both PTSD symptoms and addictive behavior cycles simultaneously.

This course begins by examining the increasingly well-established relationship between trauma and addiction, including how individuals with unresolved trauma often turn to substances to regulate overwhelming emotions, and how addictive behaviors can increase vulnerability to further trauma exposure. Participants will develop a working knowledge of the cognitive model of psychotherapy, including the 18 early maladaptive schemas and their role in maintaining destructive behavioral cycles. The training also covers behavioral pattern-breaking tools, soothing and grounding skills to prepare clients for trauma processing, complex chain analysis to strengthen impulse control, the three types of avoidance that perpetuate PTSD symptoms, and four treatment components of a “Smart Recovery” framework. Specific cognitive models of PTSD and addictive behavior disorders will be presented, along with practical protocols proven effective with this population.

Key Takeaways:

• Integrated Trauma-Addiction Conceptualization: Analyze the relationship between trauma and addiction and understand how early maladaptive schemas drive co-occurring symptom cycles.
• Schema-Informed Intervention Tools: Apply behavioural pattern-breaking strategies, chain analysis, and impulse control techniques to disrupt lifelong destructive patterns.
• Stabilization and Recovery Skills: Use grounding, soothing, de-escalation strategies, and Smart Recovery components to reduce avoidance and support sustained recovery.

Why this course?

• Addresses Dual Diagnosis Complexity: Move beyond treating trauma or addiction in isolation by learning a cohesive model designed for co-occurring presentations.
• Led by a Seasoned CBT Expert: Learn from a clinician trained at The Beck Institute who has developed and directed CBT-based hospital programs treating trauma and addiction.
• Practical, Real-World Application: Gain immediately usable tools that translate research into structured, session-ready interventions for clients “in the trenches.”

Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the relationship between trauma and addiction.
• Identify the role of 18 early maladaptive schemas in maintaining destructive behavioral cycles.
• Apply behavioural pattern-breaking tools for disrupting lifelong patterns of behaviour.
• Use soothing, grounding, and other de-escalation skills for helping prepare clients to face traumatic memories.
• Perform complex chain analysis to facilitate the development of client impulse control.
• Describe the three types of avoidance and explain how they perpetuate PTSD symptoms.
• Analyze 4 treatment components of a “Smart Recovery”.

When up to 75% of individuals with substance use disorders report trauma histories and up to 50% of those diagnosed with PTSD struggle with substance-related problems, clinicians need a model that accounts for both sides of this vicious cycle. This training offers a structured, schema-informed CBT approach that helps clients break destructive loops and move steadily toward lasting recovery—an opportunity to deepen your clinical impact and strengthen outcomes in even your most complex cases.