Cognitive Therapy for Schizophrenia: From Conceptualization to Intervention

Abstract

Objectives: To out line the cog ni tive un der stand ing of symp toms of schizo phre nia, such as de lu sions, hal lu ci na tions, and emo tional with drawal, and to re view the cog ni tive ther apy ap proach to ame lio rat ing these symp toms. Method: We iden ti fied stud ies ex am in ing cog ni tive fac tors as so ci ated with symp toms of schizo phre nia by elec tronic search (us ing Med line and Psycinfo). This pa per in te grates e xperimental find ings and clini cal treat ment. Results: Re cent stud ies fo cus ing on the psy cho logi cal as pects of schizo phre nia dem onstrate the im por tance of com mon cog ni tive bi ases and dis tor tions that are func tion ally related to the main te nance of symp toms. Un der stand ing the dis or der in cog ni tive terms pro vides a frame work for psy cho thera peu tic in ter ven tion. Adapt ing cog ni tive strate gies suc cess fully used in cog ni tive ther apy of de pres sion and anxi ety pro vides an im por tant adjunct to stan dard treat ment of schizo phre nia. Conclusion: Given that the out come of cur rent treat ment for schizo phre nia re mains poor, at ten tion to thera pist train ing in psy cho logi cal ap proaches is es sen tial.