CBT and family therapy

Question 1

CBT

Answer 1

helps identify irrational thoughts and tries to change them - may involve argument or discussion of how likely person’s beliefs are to be true and consideration of other less threatening possibilities - doesn’t get rid of symptoms but can help people cope with them

helps make sense of how delusions and hallucinations impact feelings and behaviour - offering psychological explanations can reduce anxiety

Question 2

family therapy

Answer 2

aims to improve quality of communication between family members and reduce stress within family that might contribute to risk of relapse - particularly aims to reduce levels of EE

pharoah et al identify range of strategies used to improve family functioning

• form therapeutic alliance with all members
• reduce stress of caring for relative with SZ
• reduce anger and guilt in family members

pharoah et al - strategies reduce levels of stress and EE and increase chances of people complying with medication - reduces likelihood of relapse and readmission to hospital

Question 3

token economies

Answer 3

reward systems used to manage behaviour of people with SZ, in particular those who’ve developed patterns of maladaptive behaviour through spending long time in psychiatric hospitals

modifying behaviour doesn’t cure SZ but improves quality of life

Question 4

evaluation - evidence for effectiveness

Answer 4

pharoah et al - reviewed evidence for effectiveness of family therapy - concluded there’s moderate evidence to show family therapy significantly reduces hospital readmission over course of a year and improves quality of life for patients and family

however, noted results of different studies were inconsistent and there were problems with quality of some evidence.

overall, evidence base for family therapy is fairly weak

Question 5

evaluation - treatments improve quality of life but don’t cure

Answer 5

CBT - helps person make sense of and challenge symptoms

family therapy - helps reduce stress for patient and family

token economy - helps make individuals’ behaviour more socially acceptable so they can better reintegrate into society

but these don’t cure SZ - fail to cure SZ is weakness of psychological treatments

Question 6

evaluation - ethical issues

Answer 6

token economy systems - privileges and services become more available to patients with mild symptoms and less for those with more severe symptoms that prevent them complying with desirable behaviours - severely ill patients face discrimination