psych therapy- CBT

Question 1

cognitive behaviour therapy

Answer 1

a method for treating mental disorders based on both cognitive and behavioural techniques. from cognitive viewpoint aims to deal with thinking, e.g. challenging negative thoughts. also includes changes to behaviour.

commonly used to treat schiz. 5-20 sessions. groups or individual basis.

Question 2

how does it help schiz? (1)

Answer 2

helps them make sense of how their irrational cognitions (like delusions and hallucinations) impact their feelings and behaviours.
offers psychological explanations to help reduce negative effect of hallucinations and delusions. e.g. being told hearing voices comes from a malfunctioning speech centre. less frightening and less debilitating.
doesn’t eliminate symptoms but reduces distress and improves ability to function adequately.

Question 3

how does it help schiz? (2)

Answer 3

normalisation. teaching them that voice-hearing is an extention of ordinary experience of thinking in words.
delusions challenged by process of reality testing. schiz and therapist both examine likelihood that beliefs are true. helps patients identify irrational thoughts, challenge their truth and look for less threatening possibilities.

Question 4

what about cases where delusions resistant to reality testing CBT?

Answer 4

CBT can still be used to tackle the anxiety and depression that result from living with schizophrenia

Question 5

case example of using cbt to challenge delusions

turkington

Answer 5

paranoid client: the mafia are observing me to decide how to kill me
therapist: you are obviously very frightened. there must be a good reason for this.
PC: do you think it’s the mafia?
T: it’s a possibility, but there could be other explanations. how do you know that it’s the mafia?

Question 6

strength

evidence of effectiveness

Answer 6

jauhar- reviewed 34 studies of cbt with schiz. clear evidence for small but significant effects on both pos and neg symptoms.
pontillo- reductions in frequency and severity of auditory hallucinations.
NICE (2019)- recommends cbt for schiz.

both research and clinical ecperience support benefits of cbt for schiz.

Question 7

limitation

quality of evidence

Answer 7

cbt techniques and schiz symptoms vary widely between cases.
thomas- diff studies involve the use of diff cbt techniques and diff combinations of both pos and neg symptoms.

wide range of techniques and symptoms used in studies makes it hard to say how effective cbt will be for one schiz patient in particular

Question 8

weakness

partial cure

Answer 8

improve qol but not cure. largely biological condition, psych therapy improves people’s ability to live with symptims e.g. ignore hallucinations experiencing less anxiety. doesn’t eliminate symptoms.

BUT are studies reporting signif reductions in severity of pos and neg symptoms. and freq and intensity of hallucinations reduced as well as anxiety. suggests does more than enhance coping.

balance- may be a partial cure, doing more than teaching coping skills. however still not complete cure.