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-behavi oural interventions for psychosis. Results: Various cognitive-behavioural interventions have been used for red ucing psychosis. These have usually been applied to auditory hallucinations and/or delusions in otherwise treatment-resistant patients. Most evaluatio ns comprise case studies or simple pre-post designs. Controlled trial evalu ations are few: and although the results are promising, methodological prob lems limit the conclusions that can be drawn concerning the clinical utilit y of such approaches. Conclusions: More and better controlled trial evaluations of cognitive-beha vioural 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 n eed to be addressed.