psycholoigcal treatments fro schizophrenia ( CBTp)

CBT follows the 3 mains stages:

• identify

• Challenge

• Test

Identify

Patients are asked to trace back the origins of their symptoms and understand how they started. Understanding where symptoms come from can be helpful

Eg; that voice comes from a malfunction in the speech centre of the brain and that it cannot hurt them if they ignore it can make the experience less frightening

Challenge

Clients are encouraged to evaluate the content of their delusions/hallucinations and consider ways they could test the validity /reality of these faulty beliefs

To address hallucination; the process of normalisation is sometimes used; explaining hat hearing voices is an extension of ordinary experiences

To address delusions; clients may be taught to recognise delusional thinking in themselves and to challenge these irrational beliefs through belief modification. Clients learn to rationalise beliefs

Test

For example - setting behavioural assignments, getting them to think of alternative explanations, coming up with their own coping strategies

CBTp actually emerged from he realisation that patients were using their own coping strategies for example listening to the voices, making friends with them rather than fighting them

Stages of CBTp:

• assessment - set goals for therapy

• Engagement - therapist emphasises, tresses collaborative nature of therapy

• The ABC model - patient gives their explanation of activating events(A) that appear to cause their emotional and behavioural (B) consequences (C)

• Normalisation - info that may people have unusual

Helpful to some

The treatment is helpful to some patients

CBT is bases on the idea that hallucinations and delusions have a cognitive basis. Treatment therefore has the potential to deal with some of the most traumatising symptoms of this illness

However it is commonly believed that not everyone will benefit ad they are not able to fully engage with the therapy

Gives people methods

It gives people methods and kills to deal with their illness

It is a collaborative therapy that is perhaps more appropriate than passive biological therapies

Therefore it can have long term positive effects and prevents future relapse

This increases the value of the treatment because we want a treatment that at least prepares people well to deal with symptoms and this provides a person with strategies to deal with any future problem of this type

Evidence for the effectiveness

There is evidence for the effectiveness of CBT

Drury et al found a reduction of positive symptoms and a 25-50% reduction in recovery time for patients given a combination of anti psychotic medication and CBT.

Jauhar et al reviewed the results of 34 studies of CBT and concluded it has a significant, bit fairly small effect on both positive and negative symptoms

However most studies testing effectiveness have been conducted with patients who have taken or are taking antipsychotics so it is difficult to measure it effectiveness independently of drugs