The aims of CBT in general are to help clients identify irrational thoughts (delusions and hallucinations) and to change them. 5-20 sessions, individually or in a group.
Clients are helped to make sense of how their delusions and hallucinations impact on their feelings and behaviour. For example, a client may hear voices and believe they are demons so they will be very afraid. Normalisation involves talking to the client that hearing voices is an ordinary experience.
Turkington treated a paranoid client who believed the Mafia were plotting to kill him. The therapist acknowledged the client's anxiety, and explained that there were other, less frightening possibilities and gently challenged the clients evidence for his belief in the Mafia explanation.
