psychosis

Objectives

1) to evaluate different attachment styles depending on the attachment figure; 2) to explore the association between experiential avoidance and paranoid ideation frequency; 3) to test a mediation model in which the impact of adult attachment on frequency of paranoid ideation occurs through experiential avoidance.
Method

We assessed adult-attachment, experiential avoidance and paranoid ideation frequency in a sample of 37 (30 male and 7 female) outpatients and inpatients with a psychosis-spectrum diagnosis.
Results

In this paper, we discuss the practice implications of our group Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for psychosis (ACTp) evaluations, in terms of the adaptations required to ACT interventions for group implementation in routine services for people with psychosis. ACTp shows promise as a brief individual intervention for people with psychosis to improve recovery, reduce future relapse, and reduce healthcare costs. Outcomes for group ACT interventions for non-psychotic severe mental illnesses support the potential for further cost-savings, through group delivery, and two recent trials suggest that adapting group ACT interventions to suit people with psychosis is both feasible and clinically effective.

Depression following psychosis is common and can impact negatively on individuals’ quality of life. This study conducted post-hoc analyses on 14 participants with psychosis from a larger randomised controlled trial who presented with clinically important levels of depression at baseline. Eight of the participants received Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), whilst the remaining six individuals received treatment as usual (TAU). The focus was on investigating clinically significant change in outcome measures between baseline and 3-months post-baseline in the participants.