Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T04:44:26.393Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Brief Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Hallucinations: Can it Help People Who Decide Not to Take Antipsychotic Medication? A Case Report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2011

Paul Hutton*
Affiliation:
Greater Manchester West Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust, and University of Manchester, UK
Anthony P. Morrison
Affiliation:
Greater Manchester West Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust, and University of Manchester, UK
Hannah Taylor
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, UK
*
Reprint requests to Paul Hutton, Psychosis Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Bury New Road, Prestwich M25 3BL, UK. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Background: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be helpful for many people who experience psychosis; however most research trials have been conducted with people also taking antipsychotic medication. There is little evidence to know whether CBT can help people who choose not to take this medication, despite this being a very frequent event. Developing effective alternatives to antipsychotics would offer service users real choice. Aims: To report a case study illustrating how brief CBT may be of value to a young person experiencing psychosis and not wishing to take antipsychotic medication. Method: We describe the progress of brief CBT for a young man reporting auditory and visual hallucinations in the form of a controlling and dominating invisible companion. We describe the formulation process and discuss the impact of key interventions such as normalising and detached mindfulness. Results: Seven sessions of CBT resulted in complete disappearance of the invisible companion. The reduction in frequency and duration followed reduction in conviction in key appraisals concerning uncontrollability and unacceptability. Conclusions: This case adds to the existing evidence base by suggesting that even short-term CBT might lead to valued outcomes for service users experiencing psychosis but not wishing to take antipsychotic medication.

Type
Brief Clinical Reports
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. and Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Cairns, R., Maddock, C., Buchanan, A., David, A. S., Hayward, P., Richardson, G., et al. . (2005). Prevalence and predictors of mental incapacity in psychiatric in-patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 187, 379385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collerton, D. and Dudley, R. (2004). A cognitive behavioural framework for treating distressing visual hallucinations in older people. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 32, 443455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epley, N., Akalis, S., Waytz, A. and Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). Creating social connection through inferential reproduction: loneliness and perceived agency in gadgets, gods, and greyhounds. Psychological Science, 19, 114120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haddock, G., McCarron, J., Tarrier, N. and Faragher, E. B. (1999). Scales to measure dimensions of hallucinations and delusions: the psychotic symptom rating scales (PSYRATS). Psychological Medicine, 29, 879889.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masi, C. M., Chen, H., Hawkley, L. C. and Cacioppo, J. T. (in press). A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review.Google Scholar
Morrison, A. P. (1994). Cognitive behaviour therapy for auditory hallucinations without concurrent medication: a single case. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 22, 259264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, A. P. (1998). A cognitive analysis of the maintenance of auditory hallucinations: are voices to schizophrenia what bodily sensations are to panic? Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 26, 289302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, A. P., Wells, A. and Nothard, S. (2002). Cognitive and emotional factors as predictors of predisposition to hallucinations. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 259270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M., Hodges, S. D. and Kohanyi, A. (2003). The illusion of independent agency: do adult fiction writers experience their characters as having minds of their own? Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 22, 361380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valmaggia, L., Bouman, T.K. and Schuurman, L. (2007). Attention training with auditory hallucinations: a case study. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 14, 127133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, A. (2005). Detached mindfulness in cognitive therapy: a metacognitive analysis and ten techniques. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 23, 337355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, A. (2008). Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Yung, A. R., Yuen, H. P., McGorry, P. D., Phillips, L. J., Kelly, D., Dell'Olio, M., et al. . (2005). Mapping the onset of psychosis: the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 39, 1112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Hutton Brief Clinical Report - Extended Version

Hutton Brief Clinical Report - Extended Version

Download Hutton Brief Clinical Report - Extended Version(File)
File 206.3 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.