psychological therapy

• cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)

  • method for treating mental disorders
  • aims to deal with thinking and behaviour
  • can help a client make sense of how hallucinations impact their feelings
  • CASE EXAMPLE- Tarkington (2004) described an example of CBT used to challenge where delusions come from
• family therapy

  • aims to improve quality of family communications and life.
  • There's a range of approaches to family therapy for SZ.
• how family therapy helps

  • Pharaoh(2010) found a range of strategies used to improve families functioning with an SZ patient.  
  • Reduces negative emotions-> aims to reduce levels of (negative) expressed emotion e.g. anger and guilt which create stress. It's important to reduce stress to avoid relapses. 
  • Improves family's ability to help-> therapist encourages family members to form an alliance (agree on therapy aims). Aims to ensure families achieve a balance between caring for patient and maintaining own lives.  
• CBT evaluation

  • evidence for effectiveness- NICE reccomends CBT for sz
  • this suggest CBT has clinical + research support
• CBT evaluation

  does CBT cure?

  • CBT may improve quality of live by relieving symptoms but doesn't cure them as sz is a largely biological condition
• family therapy evaluation

  • evidence for effectiveness
  • A review of studies by McFarlane (2016) concluded that family therapy was one of the most consistently effective SZ treatments. Relapse rates were reduced by 50-60%. 
  • whole family benefits-
  • Barrowclough (2016) found that family therapy is important because families provide the bulk of the care for the patient. By strengthening the family dynamic, the ability of the family being able to help the patient increases. This means family therapy has wider benefits beyond the obvious positive impact on the identified patient.