PATHWAYS TO DEFENSE OF THE SELF - A THEORY OF 2 TYPES OF PARANOIA

Citation
P. Trower et P. Chadwick, PATHWAYS TO DEFENSE OF THE SELF - A THEORY OF 2 TYPES OF PARANOIA, Clinical psychology, 2(3), 1995, pp. 263-278
Citations number
70
Categorie Soggetti
Psycology, Clinical
Journal title
ISSN journal
09695893
Volume
2
Issue
3
Year of publication
1995
Pages
263 - 278
Database
ISI
SICI code
0969-5893(1995)2:3<263:PTDOTS>2.0.ZU;2-9
Abstract
Developments in cognitive therapies and theories for paranoid psychosi s have constituted a significant breakthrough in our understanding of this disorder, offering a valid psychological alternative to biomedica l approaches, which have been criticized on scientific, pragmatic, and ethical grounds. However, we have recently found evidence for two typ es of paranoia which, together with other conceptual and empirical wor k, show these cognitive theories to be insufficient. We propose an int erpersonal theory of the self, which places the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of paranoia within a broader context of the per ron. In this article, we (a) survey cognitive theories and the alterna tive interventions they imply; (b) describe new findings on two types of paranoia, which imply the need for significant theoretical adjustme nts; and (c) propose and describe a modified theory of paranoid threat and defense of the self, which, we argue, more adequately explains th e phenomena.