[Modern cognitive behavior therapy of psychotic disorders]

Abstract

The current treatment guidelines recommend several effective psychotherapeutic approaches for different indications or aims in the therapy of patients with psychotic disorders. In particular, cognitive behavior therapy (CBTp) is recommended for the treatment of positive and general symptoms in all phases of the disorder without any restriction. Although CBTp could be easily implemented in routine care, very few of the affected patients have access to this evidence-based procedure in inpatient or outpatient settings. The interventions in CBTp directly address the psychotic symptoms themselves as well as the factors involved in the development and maintenance of symptoms. The core features of CBTp are a normalizing attitude of the therapist towards symptoms, an individualized approach and cognitive interventions. Recent developments include symptom-specific, metacognitive as well as mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches. Moreover, the reduction of comorbid symptoms can add to the benefit of the treatment. This article provides an overview of the basic CBTp techniques and of some of the latest developments in this field. It is hoped that this will contribute to the training of therapists and to the better implementation of evidence-based and guideline-based psychotherapy in the care of patients with psychotic disorders.

Keywords: Psychological interventions; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Therapy; Treatment.