Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Family Interventions for Psychosis

According to current research , Schizophrenia is a mental health condition distinguished by vast harm in cognition that place intense limitations on functional recovery (Eack 1). Schizophrenic disorders normally are shown in adolescents or early adulthood and tend to occur in reclusive, isolated individuals ( Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2). Because schizophrenia is such a problem in society and families, something should be done to help patients and families cope with this disorder (Jungbauer 605). Schizophrenia not only affects the patient , but also the family and community .

Most families opt not to involve themselves because of the negative stigma of having a family member with schizophrenia. In addition to this there are many factors that affects attending family intervention due to work hours, lack of time, and transportation considerations and other outside factors (Bleecher, 2009 p 264). Although attending intervention can be very lengthy and time consuming family psychoeducation reduces a great percentage of hospitalizations. Overall, families who involve themselves have an overall better outcome for both the family and the ill member because they are helping the child’s social and emotional health (Bleecher, 2009). The effectiveness of family involvement of individuals with schizophrenia in both individual and family outcomes has been established is as an evidence based practice in the mental health field. There is a need for greater understanding of the barriers to involving families in order to move toward the eventual goal of increased practitioner and family collaboration. Although, there is no sufficient data that can prove this aside from a number of case studies further research must be done.

The history of family therapy began around 1960 when Gregory Bateson came up with the term, “system thinking.” This type of therapy was a daring departure, from traditional and individual treatment during the 1960s. He was involved in the schizophrenia research project in Palo Alto, California, which had a strong impact in shaping the course of family therapy. Along with his colleagues Jay Haley, John Weakland, William Fry, Don Jackson and later Virginia Satir, Paul Watzlawick, Bateson developed a communication theory which aim was to explain development of schizophrenic behavior within the familial environment.

A combination of CBT and the social workers in a patient's life will help to integrate better the patient into the society and help the patient in dealing with and managing asocial skills. Patients can be taught vocational skills which can help them function in their normal life, get access to services makes them productive members of the society. There may also be fewer stigmas associated with schizophrenia. This is because the patient will be calmer, and due to CBT, their behavior will be modified to reduce the occurrence of delusions and hallucinations. Schizophrenics will also be able to engage in income generating activities, making them productive members of the

Individuals with Schizophrenia typically use medications to treat his or her symptoms. This paper will examine one newspaper article about research conducted by scientists at the National Institute of Mental Health and three peer-reviewed journal articles. This will be done in order to investigate if Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) aids in minimizing symptoms of Schizophrenia more effectively with medication, without medication, and in combination with other therapy styles. These articles propose that CBT should be examined with caution in order to comprehend how it impacts Schizophrenic symptoms. The effectiveness of CBT and reduction of Schizophrenic symptoms could differ in each individual. This is due to numerous factors such as, socioeconomic status, gender, race, environment, family history, and exposure to drugs. It is important to be aware that with every scientific study that is conducted, there may be errors within the study. This may be due to how the data was collected.

In the last few decades, many psychosocial interventions for family members and the caregivers of mentally ill individuals have surfaced, including, intensive family therapy (Cuijpers & Stam, 2014). This therapy serves to build positive relationships between family members in an effort to reduce the level of expressed emotion in an effort to reduce relapse rates. There is a correlation between levels of expressed emotion and relapse in the mentally ill. Family interventions include, education, family therapy, and self-care training.

There is a considerable amount of different concepts that can be used when thinking about schizophrenia; unfortunately, since it continues to be a misunderstood disorder, there also exist numerous misconceptions about the schizophrenia. The most common misconceptions deal with the treatment options for schizophrenia, the potential recovery rate, and the ability of people who are diagnosed with the disorder or symptoms to live productive and meaningful lives. Though there are no permanent cures to treat the disease, there are certain medications that help manage the symptoms in order to help people lead healthy and satisfied lives. The recovery rate for the disease is also

Antipsychotic medications have become the most effective treatment for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia (Lieberman et al., 2005), but medication non-compliance tends to be a common issue among this population. Approximately one-third of people diagnosed with schizophrenia have been found to be non-compliant with their prescribed medications (West et al., 2005). Medication non-compliance is a very serious issue among this population, as it is associated with relapse, psychiatric hospitalization, and functional outcomes. However, very little is being done to address this issue. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has recently been integrated into treatments for schizophrenia, and several studies have found it to be effective in

People need help in various ways because when they are suffering with schizophrenia, they have difficulty with thinking, motivation, physical activities, activities of the daily living, relations, and communication skills. There are many useful therapies, for instance, individual psychotherapy helps the person to understand more about their illness and to better help with their daily lives. Rehabilitation helps them with problem solving support, social skills, and education in money management. They might be benefitted with improvement in cognitive and thinking skills. With the help of cognitive behavioral therapy the patient is helped to test and understand the reality of their thoughts and perceptions. With this therapy they get help on managing on not listening to the voices that tells them what to do, and most importantly to manage their symptoms overall. Personally, the most important therapy is family education, because it is important that all the family members are aware of the person suffering from schizophrenia. Their family should learn everything about this illness, they should also make sure that their loved ones follow their medication and treatments

The article was written by Frederick J. Frese III, Edward L. Knight and Elyn Saks; all trained professionals specialising in schizophrenia. This article focuses on schizophrenia and the history and evolution of treatments that have been used. It looks to shed

Therapy for psychosis often works best when combined with medication, although this is not always

Family therapy began in the 1950’s to help increase the family members’ understanding of the illness as well as the patient’s behavior due to the disease. It is “a form of psychotherapy that tends to focus on the family unit, or at least the parent and child” (APA P Kahn, 1993). This more or less helps the people involved with a person with schizophrenia deal with the disease whereas behavioral therapy assists the patient maintain their own behaviors to be able to live in their communities. It is also referred to as the Token Economy and works most effectively when the person is admitted into inpatient or day hospitals or are living in a half-way house. This form of therapy changes the patient’s behavior with a reward and punishment system and must be monitored and the rewards and punishments controlled. Patients must exhibit a certain behavioral change according to the program that was laid out for them and in turn will receive poker chip like tokens which can be used to buy rewards such as food, television privileges and access to special activities. This program focuses on creating the appropriate social behavior the patient needs to have to enter back into the

Clearly, this is a very serious disorder, which is often utterly incapacitating. Therefore, individuals urgently require efficacious treatment, both for survival and for quality of life, and many different kinds of treatment and therapy are used. This paper will examine the use of two of these, cognitive behavioral therapy and drug therapy, and evaluate which one is better. It will take the position that drug therapy is a more effective therapy for treating schizophrenia than is cognitive behavioral therapy.

Emotional over-involvement is essentially a form of protectiveness which is displayed by caregivers. Studies carried out by Breitborde et al. (2007) illuminate the theory that high levels of emotional over-involvement could induce relapse, thus diminishing the probability of recovery. These results indicate that independence could be a vital component in the treatment of Schizophrenia suggesting that emotional over-involvement could only be of assistance until the point that it violates the patients privacy and autonomy (Breitborde et al. 2007). It is understandable that family members and primary caregivers are concerned about the patient, and therefore feel they must protect them, however, it is important to note that

Other interventions and treatments that may be introduced once the individual is stable enough on medication to be receptive and benefit from these treatments include: individual therapy, group counseling, family counseling, vocational rehabilitation/training, social skills training, and daily living skills training. It is also important to provide the family with support, education, and the proper intervention skills, to assist them with coping with the difficulties that come with having a family member diagnosed with schizophrenia (Preston, O'Neal & Talaga, 2010).