psychological therapies

• psychological therapies

  • CBT
  • Family therapy
  • Token economies
• CBT

  its aim is to help patients identify irrational thoughts and try to change them.

  • helps find coping mechanisms ,doesn’t get rid of the symptoms.
  • may involve argument /discussion of how likely the patient’s belief are to be true.

  How CBT helps- it helps patients make sense of their delusions and hallucinations and how they impact their feelings and behaviour. Offers psychological explanations for the existence of hallucinations and delusions to help reduce this anxiety. Delusions can be challenged so the patient can learn that their beliefs are not based on reality.
• Family therapy

  • takes place with families rather than individual patients.
  • aims to improve the quality of communication between family members.
  • most family therapists aim to reduce stress within the family that may  contribute to a patient’s risk of relapse.
  • aims to reduce levels of expressed emotion.

  Pharoah identified a range of strategies to improve functioning of a family with a member suffering from schizophrenia:

  • forming a therapeutic alliance with all family members.
  • reduction of anger and guilt in family members.
  • reducing stress of caring for someone with schizophrenia.
• Family therapy: Pharoah

  suggested that these strategies work by reducing stress levels and expressed emotion whilst increasing the chances of patients’ complying with medication.So this leads to reduced likelihood of relapse and readmission to hospital.
• Token economies

  -are reward systems to manage behaviour of patients with schizophrenia,in particular those who have developed patterns of maladaptive behaviour through institutionalisation.These aim to improve the patient’s quality of life.
• Token economies

  • Tokens-are given to patients immediately when they have carried out a desirable behaviour that has been targeted for reinforcement. Immediacy of rewards prevents delay discounting.
  • Rewards-the tokens have no value but can be swapped for more tangible rewards. They are a kind of behavioural therapy based on operant conditioning. Tokens are secondary reinforcers as they only have value once the patient has learned that they can be used to obtain rewards.