Information for the public
Psychological therapy
Psychological therapy
Psychological therapy involves meeting with a therapist (a healthcare professional competent in giving psychological therapy to people with psychosis or schizophrenia) to talk about your feelings and thoughts and how these affect your behaviour and wellbeing.
Cognitive behavioural therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) involves at least 16 meetings on your own with a healthcare professional.
It can be used to help encourage you to find different ways of coping with your symptoms by helping you understand how your thoughts, feelings and behaviour are linked to your symptoms of psychosis or schizophrenia.
Family intervention
Family intervention should last between 3 months and a year and include at least 10 meetings; these meetings can take place with or without other families depending on your and your family's preference.
Family intervention can help support your family to work together to help you cope and to reduce stress for your family members.
The healthcare professional should make sure that everyone involved is happy with how the therapy is going.
Arts therapies
Arts therapies can help you to express yourself and work through your problems using art, music, dance or drama.
They usually take place in groups of people with similar mental health problems.
Other psychological therapies
You should not usually be offered other types of therapy (such as counselling and therapies called supportive psychotherapy and social skills training) because they have not been found to be as helpful for people with psychosis or schizophrenia. However, your personal choice should be taken into account, especially if CBT, family intervention and arts therapies are not available.
You should not be offered a treatment called adherence therapy because there is not enough good evidence that it can help people with psychosis or schizophrenia.