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-behavioural interventions for psychosis.

RESULTS

Various cognitive-behavioural interventions have been used for reducing psychosis. These have usually been applied to auditory hallucinations and/or delusions in otherwise treatment-resistant patients. Most evaluations comprise case studies or simple pre-post designs. Controlled trial evaluations are few, and although the results are promising, methodological problems limit the conclusions that can be drawn concerning the clinical utility of such approaches.

CONCLUSIONS

More and better controlled trial evaluations of cognitive-behavioural 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 need to be addressed.