Psychological therapies

• What is a token economy


  Behaviourist approach to treat avolition

  Involve rewards to improve behaviour

  Encouraged to develop own better habits
• what are the tokens in a token economy 


  given out for desirable behaviour, positively reinforce behaviour.

  imediacy of reward important as prevents delay discounting and reduced effect of delayed reward
• rewards in a token economy 


  • tokens have no value but can be swapped for reward like chocolate
  • Token secondary reinforcer, ‘chocolate’ Primary reinforcer
• weakness of token economy: opposing evidence 


  review 3 token economy studies, 1 improved symptoms of SZ, 0 found sustained behaviour modification.

  suggests long term benefits limited
• weakness of token economy: ethics


  dehumanising, theory based on animal studies, mechanistic view of behaviour, patients veiwed as passive machines responding to rewards.

  application has ethical implications
• What is family therapy


  • psychological approach idea something wrong in family needs fixing
  • Aim to improve communication/ reduce negative emotions
  • Less stress / relapse risk
• strategies of family therapy 


  form therapeutic alliance with family improves ability to solve problems and attitudes towards SZ
• strength of family therapy


  research support = meta analysis found families able to improve communication to reduce stress of SZ person

  reduces relapse rate
• Weakness of family therapy

  Interactionalist approach more effective = 40% relapse rate only drug treatment, 20% only family therapy, less than 5% when combined.

  Combination is better
• What is CBT as a psychological therapy for SZ


  Cognitive + behavioural technique where client/therapist work to identify negative thoughts and challenge them

  E.G. logic dispute > question logic of thoughts
• what is behavioural activation in CBT as a psychological therapy for SZ


  SZ isolate making symptoms worse, behavioural activation increases engagement with mood boosting activities

  therapist reinforces these

  when thoughts are understood emotional wellbeing improves but symptoms don’t disappear only cope better
• strength of CBT as a psychological therapy for SZ


  research support showing effectiveness by Jauhar who reviewed 34 studies found small positive effect on pos + neg symptoms

  suggests CBT helps coping
• weakness of CBT as a psychological therapy for SZ


  minimise clients circumstances = challenging thoughts interferes with clients freedom of thought
• weakness of CBT as a psychological therapy for SZ


  doesnt cure SZ only helps patient understand conditions

  CBT should be used with other treatments