Improving Psychological Therapy for Psychosis: A Case Series

Individuals with psychosis often experience delusions, hallucinations and disorganised thinking. Clinicians call these 'positive symptoms' as they are seen as an addition to regular functioning. Psychosis can also lead to loss of some functions such as lower motivation and decreased interest in activities; these are called 'negative symptoms'. Even though most people receive medication for psychosis, psychological therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) are also important in terms of managing symptoms and increasing well-being. Standard CBTp is made up of different treatment components and in therapy, different treatment components can be included or excluded depending on the needs of the individual. In this study the investigators are looking to identify treatment components that are beneficial to CBTp. In particular, the aim is to test whether adding some newly developed treatment components to CBTp can lead to additional benefits to patients, in terms of reducing unhelpful thinking styles. This will be done through a double-blind randomized case-series design, where participants will either receive standard CBTp or standard CBTp with added treatment components. Four weeks before the intervention starts, throughout therapy, as well as four weeks after therapy, participants will complete weekly questionnaires to assess symptoms and thinking patterns. This will allow the researcher to measure weekly changes before, during and after the therapy. Additional questionnaires and interviews as well as computer tasks will also be completed before the therapy starts (baseline), mid-therapy and post-therapy to gain more insight into changes in mood, quality of life, thinking patterns and symptoms. In addition, to study the long-term effect of the intervention, participants will be asked to complete a follow-up assessment session 12 weeks after the therapy is completed. Participants and clinicians will also be given the opportunity to give feedback on their experience of having received/delivered the therapy. This will be done through an interview with the researcher, and will give us further insight into how future therapies for psychosis might be improved, both from a clinician and patient perspective.