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Brief Coping Strategy Enhancement for Distressing Voices: an Evaluation in Routine Clinical Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2017

Mark Hayward Open the ORCID record for Mark Hayward [Opens in a new window] ,
Rebecca Edgecumbe ,
Anna-Marie Jones ,
Clio Berry  and
Clara Strauss Open the ORCID record for Clara Strauss [Opens in a new window]
Mark Hayward*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton
Rebecca Edgecumbe
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sussex
Anna-Marie Jones
Affiliation:
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Clio Berry
Affiliation:
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Clara Strauss
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sussex
*
Correspondence to Mark Hayward, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RH. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background: Hearing voices can be a common and distressing experience. Psychological treatment in the form of cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is effective, but is rarely available to patients. The barriers to increasing access include a lack of time for clinicians to deliver therapy. Emerging evidence suggests that CBTp delivered in brief forms can be effective and offer one solution to increasing access. Aims: We adapted an existing form of CBTp, coping strategy enhancement (CSE), to focus specifically on distressing voices in a brief format. This intervention was evaluated within an uncontrolled study conducted in routine clinical practice. Method: This was a service evaluation comparing pre–post outcomes in patients who had completed CSE over four sessions within a specialist out-patient service within NHS Mental Health Services. The primary outcome was the distress scale of the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale – Auditory Hallucinations (PSYRATS-AH). Results: Data were available from 101 patients who had completed therapy. A reduction approaching clinical importance was found on the PSYRATS distress scale post-therapy when compared with the baseline. Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that CSE, as a focused and brief form of CBTp, can be effective in the treatment of distressing voices within routine clinical practice. Within the context of the limitations of this study, brief CSE may best be viewed as the beginning of a therapeutic conversation and a low-intensity intervention in a stepped approach to the treatment of distressing voices.

Keywords

voice hearingauditory hallucinationscognitive behaviour therapycopingclinical practice
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 226 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2017 

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