Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis: A Status Report

OBJECTIVE: To review the nature of cognitive-behavioural interventions for psychosis and to evaluate evidence of their effectiveness. METHOD: Electronic (Medline and Psychinfo) and bibliography-based searches were carried out to locate descriptions and evaluations of cognitive-behavioural interventions for psychosis. RESULTS: Various cognitive-behavioural interventions have been used for reducing psychosis. These have usually been applied to auditory hallucinations and/or delusions in otherwise treatment-resistant patients. Most evaluations comprise case studies or simple pre-post designs. Controlled trial evaluations are few, and although the results are promising, methodological problems limit the conclusions that can be drawn concerning the clinical utility of such approaches. CONCLUSIONS: More and better controlled trial evaluations of cognitive-behavioural interventions are needed in this area. If further research supports the efficacy of these techniques, issues related to clinical effectiveness, mediators of treatment effects, risks, and cost-effectiveness will also need to be addressed.