Psychosis
Talking therapies
Many people were not offered any type of talking therapy or said that talking therapies were too difficult to access.
A few didn’t want counselling as they felt it was a ‘waste of time’, had found talking about their experiences too difficult, or felt that particular types of therapy might not deal with practical obstacles in their lives. Robert thought that talking therapy was ‘not a bad idea’ but that it felt like ‘talking to doctors’, which he didn’t want to do.
However other people spoke about their experiences of talking therapies.
Overview of talking therapies
People had had different types of therapy over their lives, such as psychodynamic therapy, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), family therapy, person-centred therapy, and therapies that use a range of approaches. A number of people who had experienced sexual abuse had therapy specially designed for them.
People had different experiences of therapy, both positive and negative. Dolly felt that a six-week period of counselling ‘touched nothing’ and he felt ‘let down’. Arwen tried some ‘basic counselling’ but didn’t want to talk about how she felt.
Some people liked the ‘problem-solving’ types of therapy like CBT, while others liked therapies that allowed them time to explore their feelings and discuss matters in the past, like family issues.
Jenni says that CBT gave her the skills to handle her current situation, including her problems...
Jenni says that CBT gave her the skills to handle her current situation, including her problems...
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And how many sessions did you have of that?
You have, I had a course of ten. And that was really useful, yes.
So what kind of things did you learn from that that you found useful?
It was, again it was about handling people, because the problem with this illness is, it seems that you’re very, susceptible to having problems with relationships, and you’re very sensitive and vulnerable to people, and people being assertive, people not being open. And stuff like that, and, yes, so it just taught me some skills of how to handle nasty people at work. Bitchy people. Pushy people. That kind of thing. Yes.
People also liked the particular counsellor they went to see, and the different techniques counsellors gave them to cope with their everyday lives. One carer mentioned how useful family therapy was. Some people felt that just talking about their problems and feelings really helped them sort through their issues. People weren’t always sure what type of therapy they had received. Not all therapy was one-to-one; people also spoke about their experiences of group therapy. Some preferred the idea of individual counselling, and Simon went to group therapy but couldn’t see the benefit of it. However another person fought to get access to group therapy in hospital, and yet another found it very helpful as people helped one another: this last person has continued friendships with group participants outside of hospital.
Types of therapies and experiences
CBT orCognitive Behavioural therapy aims to solve problems or issues by setting goals. It is often a time-limited treatment and usually focuses on the ‘here and now’. CBT helps people identify different thoughts and behaviours which might not be helpful and aims to change them, often through practical exercises. People had mostly had positive experiences of this type of therapy.
However other people didn’t find CBT useful for the problems they were experiencing. One man, for example, was said by his carer not to have control over his thoughts so he could not challenge them. Instead he benefitted much more from an approach that allowed him to be mindful of observing himself and his separate psychotic thoughts.
Tom found therapy expensive and unhelpful, and thinks that CBT is mainly used for depression and...
Tom found therapy expensive and unhelpful, and thinks that CBT is mainly used for depression and...
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I also did try a bit of CBT with the national health. But I think CBT is more geared to depression and there’s very, there’s not much they can do about schizophrenia so I gave it up after a while as just a waste of time. Which is not, you know, [coughs] it’s been proved to be very effective with depression but not that much with schizophrenia.
Yes.
So I it’s not in but I know I also tried a talking cure with a private psychiatrist psychotherapist. That didn’t go, that didn’t, that was also, you know, they were they were loathed to take me on really because they, there’s nothing much they can do about schizophrenia either. So gave that up eventually because it was too expensive. I couldn’t afford it but there was he wasn’t getting anywhere really. I think talking cures are, you know, they’re I think they’re more effective for depression but I have I’ve tried it twice but it hasn’t really worked for me so I I’ve not got on with it.
When you say it hasn’t really worked? What hasn’t worked do you associate?
Well, it’s not made me any better, you know, and so I haven’t I just thought it was a waste of time And I don’t particularly like talking about myself either. I don’t find it particularly helpful sometimes so.
Other ways of doing ‘therapy’
The benefits of talking were not confined to therapy. People also had a series of helpful ‘chats’ with support workers, doctors, people working for ‘Early Intervention teams’, and other patients, or they went on courses.
Collin had some chats with some guys in the homeless hostel he was in but didn't get anything...
Collin had some chats with some guys in the homeless hostel he was in but didn't get anything...
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I was fairly functional for most of the time in the hostel. It was just, it wasn’t really off, it was more just the general just sort of counselling. It was no really. It was just, I not very sure what it was. But it was that kind of thing where you go into that, if you go into that sort of environment in a hostel, you know, the guys there, a lot of the people are paid to sort of, that’s their job, I mean, to sort of get you through. You do that, and I’ll just go out, or I’ll do that or I’ll do this, and it was like, you know, I don’t know what… if I got anything. But it was a lot of just once a week you know, I would have a word with someone, so I’m not sure, basically it didn’t stop me going you know, full blown. It didn’t really. It never stopped it doing that obviously but … As I say we just talked about, you know, a bit like this, you know, briefly going through going your history etc and so on and talking about drink and that. I said we like had adult, an adult conversation about drink, because it was basically about… I mean they would say why, you know, why do you drink, and I’d say you know, it’s like a sort of, its not Scotland obviously but its may be slightly more, well not really I suppose, but it’s traditional in Scotland [laughs]. I suppose like. It’s just not healthy obviously, but, but yes, to be honest I never really got much benefit, I never got much from that. As I say it was only for a few weeks and it just was what it was.
Others used techniques that they had read about (e.g. CBT), that they thought were similar to techniques in therapy.
Problems in getting therapy
A few people felt that the therapy they were offered was not long enough, and it was too difficult to get therapy. Arwen and Rachel really wanted specialised counselling for sexual abuse that they had experienced, while one person felt they had to go it alone.
Rachel didn't deal with the powerful feelings about her dad's death and her sexual abuse until...
Rachel didn't deal with the powerful feelings about her dad's death and her sexual abuse until...
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Whenever I used to mention Dad, I just burst out crying. I mean I cried for hours. Hours and hours and hours. I think, I mean the main thing I had to come to terms with was a lot of anger. There was a lot of anger anyway about things, such as the sexual abuse issue and it was years before my resolve came. It was about 20, about 25 years, after the event that I actually did something about that. And found it was a group that was specifically for victims of childhood sexual abuse. And I think with my Dad and the overwhelming thing by the end of it was anger. It was anger with everything and everybody. And because, you know, …. [inhales] I didn’t deal with it at the time. And I think if you’re a thoughtful sensitive person then anger is, is not something that you deal with very well. You know, if you’re not used to these incredibly powerful overwhelming feelings of injustice, and hate [laughs]. I’ll be honest, yes. Yes. They’re very, very hard to deal with, and particularly if you’re quite isolated as well. You know, if you’ve kind of isolated yourself. [sniffs] It is very, very difficult. Yes.
Outcomes of doing therapy and recovery
David used CBT and other therapy to challenge black and white thinking'.
David used CBT and other therapy to challenge black and white thinking'.
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So you said you rebuilt a lot of that?
I’d say a lot of times I think. It keeps happening and then it gets to a point everything just goes out the window and then it’s a case of like rebuild. But I think over years I’ve managed to build together quite a solid foundation. So when I’ve fallen out, I can only fall so far and I’ve got all the steps there to build myself back up quickly without going too far. So as I said I’ve built up relationships with my family and that now and …
What was it like doing that?
It was hard work, because I think going back to how I used to be when I was younger some of my behaviours and where I was in my own head, it’s very destructive, and then I couldn’t really comprehend where I was, so god forbid how anyone could actually, how anyone else could comprehend where I was or what I was doing, or why I was doing it. But yes, it’s taken time and effort.
Rachel had different types of therapy, and found it good to get things out of her system and...
Rachel had different types of therapy, and found it good to get things out of her system and...
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The Psychodynamic therapy I just had for a year. And I didn’t take to her as much and she was the second one I saw. And that just flew by a year and yes I didn’t find it very proactive. I didn’t really enjoy that as much. The psychologist I saw, who did a bit of CBT was very good. And in fact, he made me fill a questionnaire out when I started and a questionnaire when I was leaving about how I felt, and it was quite interesting at the end to realise what I’d written at the beginning and how much better I’d got which showed, and I was with him only for nine months, but it was very effective. So that was really good. So that really worked yes.
Some people felt that therapy did not help them. However, other people who had done some or a lot of therapy found that their attempts to understand their feelings and behaviour in therapy helped them with their recovery. Whilst some people felt it was good to talk about problems, others talked about dealing with the guilt of abuse or conflict. People didn’t often see talking therapies as a substitute for medication, but felt that they ought to receive more talking therapies in addition to medication.
Last reviewed July 2017.
Last updated April 2014.
Last reviewed July 2017.
Last updated April 2014.
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