Talking Treatments
There is good evidence that talking treatments, including counselling, psychodynamic psychotherapy and, especially, cognitive behavioural therapy, can reduce distress and the intensity and frequency of the experiences. They provide a calm, supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere, with the aim of helping people to understand their experiences, develop coping strategies, and improve their relationships and quality of life. They can help to tackle depression and anxiety that may result from having psychotic experiences. Some approaches may suit some people more than others.
However, some experts believe that psychotherapy for someone experiencing a psychotic episode makes things worse. Others believe it can help complement other treatments, if a well experienced and qualified therapist takes it slowly, with only gentle challenging.
Family Therapy
Family therapy can strengthen the family and enable them to identify what is helpful and what is unhelpful for individual members. This helps people with a psychotic condition to maintain their mental health, as well as providing support for all family members in a crisis.
Therapeutic Communities
Therapeutic communities provide a supportive, live-in environment for people with mental health problems. The length of stay is usually limited to a set period of time.