Scizophrenia- Family therapy Flashcards
Who is family therapy aimed at?
The family of somebody with SZ + the paitent themselves (involving them minimises the risk of the paitent being suspicious of their treatment)
When should family therapy be considered as a treatment method?
-When symptoms are persistent/high risk of relapse
-Research has shown that SZs in families who had high levels of expressed emotion have more frequent relapses than those who dont
How long should family therapy be carried out for?
-3-12 months
-At least 10 sessions
What is the aim of family therapy?
-Provides family members with info about SZ
-Ways to support them/ a range of interventions
-Increasing capacity to solve problems
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How are the aims of family therapy achieved?
-Psychoeducation- helps the person+ carers to better understand and deal with SZ
-Forming alliances with carers
-Reducing the level of expressed emotion within the family environment
-Reducing the burden of care for carers
-Enhancing the ability to participate and solve problems
-Maintaining reasonable expectations for paitent performance
-Boundaries set
What is family therapy commonly used in conjunction with?
-Drug therapy
-Out paitent clinical care
Why is family therapy effective?
-Improves relationships within the household as the therapist encourages members to listen to each other/ discuss problems and negotiate potential solutions
Give a limitation
-Family therapy may worsen someone’s symptoms -may feel like they are being forced to interact with or depend on people who are emotionally destructive i.e. the family dynamic is too toxic
-patient may not be able to express or admit this to a health professional
when considering the research by Pharoah
Research to oppose/question the effectiveness of Family therapy
-concluded that there is moderate evidence to show that family therapy significantly reduces hospital readmission over the course of a year, improves medication compliance and improves quality of life for patients and their families. Firstly, the evidence is described as ‘moderate’, which implies that there is mixed findings in terms of how effective it is.
-Secondly, it could be suggested that the main reason for its effectiveness is more to do with the fact that it increases medication compliance. -Medication more likely to be effective if paitents use/comply with it
-. This casts doubt on the effectiveness of family therapy alone. Therefore, we must be cautious in concluding that family therapy is effective in treating schizophrenia as it is difficult to establish a cause and effect when considering the research by Pharoah
Give an evaluation point (idiographic)
Idiographic approach/Individual differences –Family therapy targets and improves the unique deficits of each individual. Unlike drug therapies that provide a one fits all approach
Free will issues in Family therapy – The fact that family therapy encourage a sense a freewill and works on the basis that the patient has to make a conscious choice to be committed to the treatment causes some issues. Family therapy in particular requires the commitment of not just one member, but several. This may not be possible, as some members of the family may not be want to participate as they find it too painful. In addition, the negative symptoms such as avolition and emotional flattening can lead to a reluctance to participate and an inability to engage and therefore act as a deterministic facto
Free will issues in Family therapy – The fact that family therapy encourage a sense a freewill and works on the basis that the patient has to make a conscious choice to be committed can cause issues family therapy in particular requires the commitment of not just one member, but several. -This may not be possible, as some members of the family may not be want to participate as they find it too painful.
-In addition, the negative symptoms such as avolition and emotional flattening can lead to a reluctance to participate and an inability to engage and therefore act as a deterministic facto
