Impact of Psychotherapy in Psychosis: A Retrospective Case Control Study

Conclusions: The findings from this exploratory study are consistent with the possibility that dialogue therapy may lead to improvements in symptoms and functioning compared to standard treatment in psychosis. Introduction Standard treatment (ST) for psychosis consists primarily of antipsychotics, hospitalization, social rehabilitation, and different types of supportive therapy (1–3). Antipsychotic drugs have only moderate effects on positive symptoms and no demonstrable effects on negative symptoms (4–6). Side effects are often prominent and might include a reduction in emotional expression, menstrual abnormalities, sexual dysfunction, and considerable weight gain (5). On this basis, the need for psychotherapy has become apparent (7–9). Combinations of pharmacological and psychosocial treatments have demonstrated potential for recovery from psychosis (10, 11). A systematic review found cognitive therapy (CBT) and family interventions to improve outcome in early psychosis (12, 13). However, a Cochrane review underlined that the evidence is limited and recommended further efforts to advance the treatment of psychosis (14). In this paper, we present data on treatment effects of an original psychotherapy model, Dialogue therapy (DT). What Is Dialogue Therapy? DT is an individual, dialogue oriented psychotherapy that has been developed through the first author's clinical practice and collaboration with patients diagnosed with schizophren...
Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research