CBT

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)


  More commonly used to help treat schizophrenia
• CBT sessions

  1. Takes around 5 to 20 sessions

  2. Can happen in groups or on an individual basis
• CBT aims

  • To identify and change irrational thoughts
  • It might involve a discussion/ argument on how likely a patients beliefs are to be true
• CBT helps patients understand their symptoms

  • Patients are helped to make sense of how their delusions and hallucinations may influence their behaviour
  • Offers psychological explanations for the existence of hallucinations and delusions can relive anxiety  
  • Delusions can be challenged so that individuals can understand that they have no basis in reality 
  • Reducing a patients anxiety
• CBT mark scheme points

  • Delivery of techniques to identify and manage intrusive or delusional thoughts
  • Patient is encouraged to develop rational interpretations or alternative perceptions, eg viewing voices as interesting rather than threatening
  • Promotes increase in social activity and use of relaxation strategies.
• Evidence for effectiveness - 😊 

  • Jahar et at (2014) - reviewed the results of 34 studies of CBT for schizophrenia. They found CBT has significant but small effect on the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.  
  • Turkington et al. (2006)  - CBT is highly effective and should be used as a mainstream treatment for schizophrenia wherever possible. 
  • Pontillo et al (2016) - Found reduced frequency and severity of auditory hallucinations in patients  
  • In both clinical and research experiments CBT is effective in treating schizophrenia  
• Quality of evidence - 🙁  

  • There is a wide range of symptoms and techniques for CBT  
  • CBT techniques vary from therapist to therapists and schizpohria symptoms vary from patient to patient   
  • Thomas (2015) - pointed out that that different studies have involved different CBT techniques and people with different combinations of positive and negative symptoms  
  • The overall benefits of CBT may be mask a wide range of effects different techniques have on specific symptoms  
  • It is therefore hard to say effectively CBT is able to treat schizophrenia