Schizophrenia: Psychological treatments Flashcards
What are the 2 main psychological treatments for schizophrenia?
cognitive behavioural therapy
family therapy
Describe the procedure of CBT
-techniques are used to identify and challenge irrational beliefs by reality testing them to reduce distress
-patients develop cognitive strategies to cope with their hallucinations and delusions
What is the name given to the process of patients developing cognitive strategies to cope with their symptoms?
Coping Strategy Enhancement
Give 3 examples of cognitive strategies that can be used
the use of distraction
positive self talk
increasing social activity and relaxation techniques
Give 3 reasons why CBT is an appropriate treatment for SZ
it allows patients to take responsibility over their own treatment
its a LT treatment that provides strategies that can be helpful in the future
it provides a way of challenging dysfunctional thinking to enable patients to engage more with other areas of their life
Give 3 reasons why CBT is not an appropriate treatment of SZ
patients have to be willing to engage and the negative symptoms of SZ such as withdrawal make engaging difficult
hallucinations and delusions can also make it difficult to engage
the length of therapy can lead to patients dropping out
Who provides supporting evidence for the effectiveness of CBT?
Describe this
Pilling et al (2002) did a meta analysis of CBT that included 392 ppts , they concluded that CBT was effective in improving mental state of patients both during treatment and at a follow up
Describe the procedure of family therapy
make the first point about the aim of family therapy
there are 6 points in total
Aim-to develop a cooperative and trusting relationship in a family
-information about the cause , course and symptoms of SZ are provided
-all family members share their experiences of SZ
-allows the development of practical coping skills that enable everyone to manage having SZ in family
-learn more constructive ways of communicating and interacting (eg finding ways of expressing emotion without using high EE)
-everyone is taught to recognise the signs of relapse so they can respond quickly
Give 2 reasons why family therapy is an appropriate treatment of SZ
there are no side effects
the treatment benefits the whole family
Give 4 reasons why family therapy is not an appropriate treatment of SZ
its not as helpful for sever cases of SZ
you need to have a family group
it is very time consuming
the whole family need to be motivated and willing to attend in order for it to work
Who provides supporting evidence for the effectiveness of family therapy as a treatment for SZ?
Describe this
Pharoah et al 2010- did a meta analysis of 53 trials from Europe , North America and Asia comparing family therapy + drugs with standard care of just drugs
concluded that family therapy decreased the frequency of relapse and the chance of hospital admission , as well as encouraging compliancy with medication and reducing high EE in families
Give a general weakness of psychological treatments for SZ
-other therapies
they are often used alongside anti-psychotic medication which suggests they are not effective alone at treating SZ
Give a general strength of psychological treatments for SZ
they are more likely to treat the underlying causes of SZ such as high EE which is addressed in family therapy , whereas biological therapies only treat the symptoms
