Psychological Treatments For SZ - Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Question 1

Why is CBT an option for treating SZ

Answer 1

• it is based around the assumption that schizophrenics have irrational and unrealistic thought processes. CBT attempts to challenge these thought process

AIM- the aim of CBT is to help patients identify irrational/delusional thoughts and change them into more rational ones via disputing

Question 2

Identification

Answer 2

Firstly a patient must identify their irrational thoughts
E.g a paranoid delusion that aliens were trying to abduct them

Question 3

Cognitive strategy- challenge the thoughts with disputing

Answer 3

• the psychiatrist would then challenge the patients irrational thoughts in order to encourage the patients to find a more plausible or less threading explanation.
• the therapist may do this through empirical disputing
• empirical disputing would allow the therapist to ask the patient for evidence of their delusions/ hallucinations

This disputing helps patients:
- to understand the delusions/ hallucinations are bit real and the therapist could explain that it is just a symptom of their SZ
- offering more plausible explanations for these symptoms can reduce anxiety/ distress and help the patient realize their beliefs are not based in reality and that their thoughts are less threatening.

Question 4

Behavioral strategy - distraction techniques

Answer 4

The therapist could also teach the patient self distraction strategies for example listening to music to drown out voices when they occur

Question 5

AO3

Answer 5

P - research into the effectiveness of CBT was scarified out by JAUHAR ET AL.

E - they reviewed the results of 34 studies of CBT as as treatment for SZ. They concluded that CBT has a significant but small effect on both positive and negative symptoms.

E - demonstrating that CBT is fairly effective in treating SZ and that by challenging patients irrational thoughts it can reduce symptoms of SZ. However it is worth noting that out of the 34 studies CBT only had a small impact on SZ symptoms

L - therefore placing doubt on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy as a treatment for SZ and questioning the validity of the use of CBT in treating SZ

Question 6

AO3

Answer 6

P - a limitation of CBT as a treatment for SZ is that it requires motivation and commitment from patients to attend sessions this is something that individuals suffering from negative symptoms of SZ such as avolition often lack

E - CBT also requires a patient to engage with the therapy however somebody with positive symptoms of SZ may have a lack of awareness and an inaccurate perception of reality.

E - therefore in some cases of SZ CBT is only effective when combined with antipsychotics. This is because the drugs help the patient to motivate themselves to attend the sessions/ increase the patients awareness.

L - therefore CBT alone may not be an effective treatment for all cases of SZ