An exploration of therapy processes within therapeutic interventions for people experiencing psychosis

Psychosis is suggested to be a leading cause of disability, not only as a direct result of the distressing experiences, but due to the social adversity, increased isolation and subsequent negative impact upon quality of life. While psychological therapies for psychosis show promise in assisting people in recovering from psychosis, relatively little is known about the processes involved, specifically the processes worked through to allow clients to understand and adopt strategic, therapeutic approaches to care. This study aimed to explore how people experiencing psychosis made use of understandings and strategies developed during the joint activity of therapy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants (six psychologist-client pairs) towards the end of, or recently after, finishing therapy for psychosis. Transcribed interviews were analysed using grounded theory. The model constructed presents multi-directional, dynamic interactions between three core categories; ‘Enabling Personal Empowerment’, ‘Navigating a Collaborative Journey’ and ‘Building Belief to generate Trust’. This study explored how processes are derived during therapy, both individually and collaboratively, to help clients better understand and implement the most beneficial strategies introduced through therapy. Through exploring these derived processes, a possible model for the conceptualisation of processes which occur during therapy for psychosis, grounded in client and psychologist accounts of therapy, was generated