Inpatients with acute psychosis who received group cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis reported feeling less anxious, more confident, and more aware of coping strategies than those who received treatment as usual, according to the authors of a study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy.
The researchers divided 113 participants from an acute psychiatric service in England into two groups – either a 4-week group CBT psychosis intervention or treatment as usual – and administered questionnaires at baseline, post intervention, and follow-up 1 month later.
Since many of the participants who received cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis showed significantly reduced distress at follow-up, compared with treatment as usual, and significantly increased confidence, the researchers said group participants were learning to cope with and accept difficult and frightening experiences, rather than attempting to reduce their occurrence. In addition, group therapy “can offer a realistic, economical way of providing basic therapy to hospital patients who may not be able to access support that specifically addresses their psychoses,” they wrote.
Read more about the study in Behaviour Research and Therapy 2015;65:76-85 ( doi:10.1016/j.brat.2014.12.008 ).
