Exploring psychosis

Psychosis is a term used to describe a range of experiences often associated with significant distress. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is a qualitative method which focuses on the first person perspective to understand lived experience and how an individual makes sense of that experience. There has been a growth in the use of IPA to explore psychosis. The first paper is a systematic review assessing the quality of IPA studies which explore the subjective experience of psychosis from a range of different perspectives, including service user, family and professional. This review identified examples of high quality research which adhered to the principles of IPA. However, the field is currently limited by a lack of reflexive practice, thus improvements in reflexivity are encouraged. The exploration of different perspectives, for example sibling or friend, to further understand the systemic experience and impact of psychosis is recommended for future research. This review concluded that JP A is a useful tool to explore psychosis. The second paper presents an IPA st1.ldy that explored the internal processes in recovery in psychosis, with particular consideration of the potential roles of self-criticism and self-compass ion. The results indicate that the process of self-.acceptance following experiences of psychosis was central to recovery. The internal process of self-to-self relating contributed to two maintenance cycles. Self-criticism was identified as maintaining distressing experiences of psychosis. In contrast, compassionate self-acceptance and empowered action resulted in progress in recovery and for some participants' growth. Thus it is proposed that therapeutic approaches which promote compassionate self-acceptance may facilitate recovery and potentially growth. The novel finding of growth following enduring experiences of psychosis indicates a fruitful area for future research and demands active engagement from services to promote not only recovery but also psychological growth following psychosisEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo