Psychological therapies for schizophrenia Flashcards
What is the aim of CBT? What is it like?
The aim of CBT is to combat irrational thoughts, delusions or hallucinations. This may involve an argument or discussion about how likely the persons belifs are to be true.
Does CBT treat schizophrenia?
CBT does not get rid of the symptoms but will help people to cope better once they have challenged their delusions and realised where they may stem from.
What is Coping Strategy Enhancement (CSE) and what is it?
focuses on building on schizophrenic patients existing coping strategies and identifying triggers for their schizophrenic epsiodes such as certain people or being on their own.
What are the two sub-types of coping strategies involved in CSE?
-Cognitive strategies e.g distraction, concentration on a specific task or positive self-talk.
-Behavioural strategies e.g relaxation techniques, social withdrawal, loud music to drown out voices and social contact.
What is family therapy?
Family therapy is a form of therapy that takes place with families rather than an individual and aims to improve the level of communication and interaction between family members as well as educate the family about schizophrenia. It aims to reduce levels of expressed emotion which may be triggering relapse.
What are some of the family therapy strategies suggested by Pharoah?
-Reduction of anger and guilt in family members.
-Reducing the stress of the family due to caring for the individual.
-Helping family members achieve a balance between caring for their relative and maintaining their own lives.
-Improving families’ beliefs/behaviour towards/about the condition.
Explain what a token economy is.
A reward system used to manage the behaviour of those with schizophrenia who may have been in a mental institution for a long period of time. The tokens are given immediately to patients who carry out a desirable behaviour and although these tokens have no value themselves they can be exchanged for a reward.
What are some strengths of token economys?
Don’t need to be trained professional to carry it out. Creates a safer environment for patients and staff.Helps to reduce negative symptoms.
What is a limitation of token economies?
Token economies have been proven to be controversial as they seem to favour patients whose condition is milder than patients who have severe schizophrenia. This is because a patient with mild schizophrenia is more likely to be able to carry out a desirable behaviour for a reward meaning patients with severe schizophrenia are at a disadvantage and may suffer discrimination.
Strength of psychological therapies for schizophrenia.
There is some support for the benefits of psychological treatment.
Jahuar reviewed the results of 34 studies of CBT and concluded that CBT had a significant but also fairly small effect on both positive and negative symptoms.Pharoah reviewed the evidence for the effectiveness of family therapy and concluded that there is moderate evidence to show for the effectiveness of family therapies however other studies were inconsistent.A study of token economies found that 1/3 studies showed an improvement in schizophrenia.Overall, there is only modest support for the effectiveness of psychological therapies to treat schizophrenia.
Limitation of psychological therapies for schizophrenia.
All the psychological treatments for schizophrenia aim to make schizophrenia more manageable and improve the patient’s quality of life however these treatments should not be confused with curing schizophrenia.
What is Tarrier’s specific form of CBT called?
Coping Strategy Enhancement (CSE)
What are token economies based on?
Operant conditioning- a token is a secondary reinforcer for desirable behaviour.
