What Will the Next Generation of Psychosocial Treatments Look Like?

Excerpt

This chapter defines the broad range and scope of psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia (also called psychiatric rehabilitation) and discusses how new conceptualizations of recovery from mental illness, which emphasize meaning and purpose in life over a narrow focus on symptom remission, have shaped the nature and delivery of services. Substantial progress in psychosocial treatment has been made over the past several decades; rigorous controlled and replicated research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a variety of interventions, including contingent reinforcement, family intervention, supported employment, cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive remediation, illness self-management training, and social skills training. Despite this progress, most of these services are not available in routine care. Obstacles to disseminating psychosocial treatments are considered, including insufficient training of professionals prior to entering the workforce and the need for more research on the science of implementation. Recommendations for improving the quality of psychosocial interventions include targeting predictors of response to treatment, evaluating the critical components or mechanisms underlying effective programs, improved precision of goal setting and monitoring outcomes to facilitate individual tailoring, and training of clinicians across the range of effective treatments to maximize the creative use of clinical expertise.