AO1 - CBT

• Aim: Help patients identify irrational/delusional thoughts and change them into more rational ones via disputing
• 1. A patient must identify their irrational thoughts, e.g. a paranoid delusion that aliens were trying to abduct them
• 2. The psychiatrist would then challenge these irrational thoughts in order to encourage the patients to find a more plausible or less threatening explanation, which may be done via empirical disputing
• Empirical disputing allows the therapist to ask the patient for evidence of their delusion/hallucination, e.g. where is the evidence that aliens exist? Do you have a photograph of the aliens?
• 3. Disputing helps patients to understand the delusions/hallucinations are not real and the therapist could explain that this is just a symptom of their schizophrenia

  • Offering more plausible explanations can reduce anxiety/distress and helps the patient realise their beliefs are not based in reality and that their thoughts are less threatening
• 4. Positive self-talk can also be used, for example, if an individual hears negative voices then they can say positive statements that challenge the auditory hallucinations