Psychological Treatments for Schizophrenia
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)
● Challenge the irrational beliefs of the client
● Treat what they think as a hypothesis, instead of trying to convince them they are wrong
● Teaching the client of the link between thoughts, emotions and behaviours
● Offer alternative interpretations of their thinking - for example, if they are convinced someone
is going to harm them, find evidence for the contrary
● Teach the client self-distraction techniques, e.g. watch TV, listen to music (particularly good
for auditory hallucinations)
EVALUATION
➔ Effective - widely used and many therapists trained to do it.
➔ Costly - it is more expensive - this is a problem as the NHS is currently underfunded
➔ CBT is not suitable for all patients – some may be too paranoid or disorientated to form a
trusting alliance with the therapist
FAMILY THERAPY
An attempt to fix the faulty and dysfunctional dynamic of a family that may have caused
schizophrenia.
Tries to alter communication practices within a family and trains people to express emotion in a more
beneficial way
The main aims of the therapy are:
● Improve positive and decrease negative forms of communication (leads to less expressed
emotion)
● Increase tolerance levels and decrease criticism within the family dynamic
● Decrease feelings of guilt and responsibility for causing the illness.
EVALUATION
➔ Limited effectiveness - ‘Openness’ needs to go both ways, and some family members will be
reluctant to give their opinion for fear of repercussions outside of therapy.
➔ Socially sensitive - family members don't wants to be blamed as the cause of schizophrenia
➔ Decreases relapse - more beneficial in the long run, cheaper than providing drugs for a
lifetime
TOKEN ECONOMIES
Management technique of schizophrenia
It is aimed to change the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, including flattened affect and loss of
energy. It does so mainly through operant conditioning.
May involve small tasks like taking antipsychotics on time, getting dressed e.t.c.
Individuals are given physical tokens for doing something good (making their bed) and they can use
these tokens for rewards. If these individuals do something bad, they have some tokens taken away
from them.
EVALUATIONS
➔ Limited effectiveness - only effective for as long as someone is under a token economy
regime, other interventions would need to be carried out alongside this
➔ More humane than forcing medication or locking them up
➔ Provides cost benefits for institutions
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)
● Challenge the irrational beliefs of the client
● Treat what they think as a hypothesis, instead of trying to convince them they are wrong
● Teaching the client of the link between thoughts, emotions and behaviours
● Offer alternative interpretations of their thinking - for example, if they are convinced someone
is going to harm them, find evidence for the contrary
● Teach the client self-distraction techniques, e.g. watch TV, listen to music (particularly good
for auditory hallucinations)
EVALUATION
➔ Effective - widely used and many therapists trained to do it.
➔ Costly - it is more expensive - this is a problem as the NHS is currently underfunded
➔ CBT is not suitable for all patients – some may be too paranoid or disorientated to form a
trusting alliance with the therapist
FAMILY THERAPY
An attempt to fix the faulty and dysfunctional dynamic of a family that may have caused
schizophrenia.
Tries to alter communication practices within a family and trains people to express emotion in a more
beneficial way
The main aims of the therapy are:
● Improve positive and decrease negative forms of communication (leads to less expressed
emotion)
● Increase tolerance levels and decrease criticism within the family dynamic
● Decrease feelings of guilt and responsibility for causing the illness.
EVALUATION
➔ Limited effectiveness - ‘Openness’ needs to go both ways, and some family members will be
reluctant to give their opinion for fear of repercussions outside of therapy.
➔ Socially sensitive - family members don't wants to be blamed as the cause of schizophrenia
➔ Decreases relapse - more beneficial in the long run, cheaper than providing drugs for a
lifetime
TOKEN ECONOMIES
Management technique of schizophrenia
It is aimed to change the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, including flattened affect and loss of
energy. It does so mainly through operant conditioning.
May involve small tasks like taking antipsychotics on time, getting dressed e.t.c.
Individuals are given physical tokens for doing something good (making their bed) and they can use
these tokens for rewards. If these individuals do something bad, they have some tokens taken away
from them.
EVALUATIONS
➔ Limited effectiveness - only effective for as long as someone is under a token economy
regime, other interventions would need to be carried out alongside this
➔ More humane than forcing medication or locking them up
➔ Provides cost benefits for institutions
