What You Will Learn!
- Use evidence-based CBT approaches to reduce distress and disability related to psychotic experiences.
- Identify ways to normalize psychotic experiences by seeing them as understandable in relationship to an individual’s life story, and capable of being altered
- Create formulations that promote hope and provide direction for treatment and recovery
- Utilize a collaborative style to engage in guided discovery of solutions to distressing psychosis-related problems
- Describe ways of integrating this psychological approach with existing treatment methods
Description
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for psychosis is an evidence-based method to reduce distress and disability related to psychotic experiences, and to support a possible full recovery. Psychotic experiences are conceptualized as being understandable in relationship to an individual's life story, and capable of being altered when people experiment with different ways of thinking and behaving. Learn how to collaborate with people having these experiences, “exploring the evidence" rather than imposing beliefs, and developing coping options so people are not forced to rely entirely on the often limited effectiveness of medication to address problems.
The course starts by examining the nature of psychosis and CBT, providing a foundation for understanding how CBT can be helpful. Then the basic style of CBT for psychosis is introduced, followed by an introduction to two of the most important techniques. Finally, applications of CBT are explored for some of the main problem areas, such as hearing distressing voices, paranoia, delusional beliefs, disorganization, and negative symptoms.
Included in the course are video lectures, slides with some diagrams, video demonstrations of CBT for psychosis being practiced, and links to additional resources for further study.
CBT for psychosis uses a minimal amount of jargon, and the concepts and practices tend to be easily understandable.
The course will take 6 hours to complete.
Who Should Attend!
- This course is intended for people who provide mental health treatment for people diagnosed with various kinds of psychotic disorders. It is intended as an introductory course, aimed at getting people started in using these methods. To become fully proficient at providing CBT for psychosis would of course require substantially more training.
- This course may also be of some interest to people who have had some psychotic experiences and to their family members, but it is not designed for them specifically and it definitely is not intended to provide any kind of individual or family therapy.
