Recovering From Psychosis

The use of first-hand service user accounts of mental illness is still limited in the professional literature available. This is, however, beginning to change, with a new ‘recovery’ focus in mental health services meaning that the voices of service users are finally being heard. Recovering from Psychosis: Empirical Evidence and Lived Experience synthesises a narrative approach alongside an evidence-based review of current treatment by including Stephen Williams’ own personal experience as it relates to psychosis, recovery and treatment. A mental health professional himself, the author’s account of his own recovery from severe mental health difficulties, without sustained intervention, challenges the orthodoxy of representation of service users in mental health. Recovering from Psychosis critically explores and reviews the current state of the art of research and knowledge about the nature and treatment of psychosis. Working simultaneously from empirical, lived experience and philosophical perspectives, Stephen Williams: Evaluates political and power related issues in professional understanding, knowledge-creation and treatment of people with psychosis; Introduces the current ‘recovery movement’, unpacking its origins and implications for the future development of ‘recovery oriented services’; Reviews, summarizes and critiques the current state of ‘recovery’ research, looking at the advantages and disadvantages of such an approach, examining how this is influencing the transformation of UK mental health services; Analyses the difficulties in organisational implementation of recovery approaches, summarises the most empirically robust approaches to practice, personal and service delivery measurement; Reviews current ‘models’ of psychosis and how various professional scientific groups explain the experience and nature of psychosis; Uses lived-experience accounts taken from the scientific literature, portraying the nature of such experiences and analysing them in the face of contemporary psychological models. Recovering from Psychosis is an essential comprehensive guide for mental health professionals, psychologists, social workers and carers, who are working with people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties diagnosed as psychosis. It addresses the practical implications of working with such difficult conditions and serves as a hopeful story of recovery for service users.

Family members can play a significant role in helping to identify early signs of psychosis, in seeking prompt and appropriate treatment for their relative, and in promoting the recovery process. The guide is divided into two parts: - Part I is designed to help families to support their relatives' recovery. It includes information about treatment of psychosis, crisis intervention, and working with mental health professionals. - Part II focusses on the family's journey to recovery. It describes specialized services for families, self-care strategies, and communication and limit-setting tips.

Staying Well After Psychosis Staying Well After Psychosis is extremely readable, based on solid research evidence and packed full of clinical insights and strategies that will satisfy any clinician seeking innovative approaches to the promotion of recovery from psychosis. Anthony P. Morrison, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester, UK Over the past decade our understanding of the experience of psychosis has changed dramatically. As part of this change, a range of psychological models of psychosis and associated interventions have developed. Staying Well After Psychosis presents an individually based psychological intervention targeting emotional recovery and relapse prevention. This approach considers the cognitive, interpersonal and developmental aspects involved in recovery and vulnerability to the recurrence of psychosis. Andrew Gumley and Matthias Schwannauer provide a framework for recovery and staying well that focuses on emotional and interpersonal adaptation to psychosis. This practical manual covers, in detail, all aspects of the therapeutic process of Cognitive Interpersonal Therapy, including: Taking a developmental perspective on help seeking and affect regulation. Supporting self-reorganisation and adaptation after acute psychosis. Understanding and treating traumatic reactions to psychosis. Working with feelings of humiliation, entrapment, loss and fear of recurrence. Working with cognitive interpersonal schemata. Developing coping in an interpersonal context. Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals will find this innovative treatment manual to be a valuable resource in their work with adults and adolescents. This book will also be of interest to lecturers and students of clinical psychology and mental health.

ACT for Psychosis Recovery is the first book to provide a breakthrough, evidence-based, step-by-step approach for group work with clients suffering from psychosis. As evidenced in a study by Patricia A. Bach and Steven C. Hayes, patients with psychotic symptoms who received acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in addition to treatment as usual showed half the rate of rehospitalization as those who did not. With this important guide, you’ll learn how a patient’s recovery can be both supported and sustained by promoting acceptance, mindfulness, and values-driven action. The journey of personal recovery from psychosis is immensely challenging. Patients often struggle with paranoia, auditory hallucinations, difficulties with motivation, poor concentration and memory, and emotional dysregulation. In addition, families and loved ones may have trouble understanding psychosis, and stigmatizing attitudes can limit opportunity and create alienation for patients. True recovery from psychosis means empowering patients to take charge of their lives. Rather than focusing on pathology, ACT teaches patients how to stay grounded in the present moment, disengage from their symptoms, and pursue personally meaningful lives based on their values. In this groundbreaking book, you will learn how to facilitate ACT groups based on a central metaphor (Passengers on the Bus), so that mindfulness and values-based action are introduced in a way that is engaging and memorable. You will also find tips and strategies to help clients identify valued directions, teach clients how to respond flexibly to psychotic symptoms, thoughts, and emotions that have been barriers to living a valued life, and lead workshops that promote compassion and connection among participants. You’ll also find tried and tested techniques for engaging people in groups, particularly those traditionally seen as “hard to reach”—people who may be wary of mental health services or experience paranoia. And finally, you’ll gain skills for engaging participants from various ethnic backgrounds. Finding purpose and identity beyond mental illness is an important step in a patient’s journey toward recovery. Using the breakthrough approach in this book, you can help clients gain the insight needed to achieve lasting well-being.

Despite years of research, debate and changes in mental health policy, there is still a lack of consensus as to what recovery from psychosis actually means, how it should be measured and how it may ultimately be achieved. In Recovering from a First Episode of Psychosis: An Integrated Approach to Early Intervention, it is argued that recovery from a first episode of psychosis (FEP) is comprised of three core elements: symptomatic, social and personal. Moreover, all three types of recovery need to be the target of early intervention for psychosis programmes (EIP) which provide evidence-based, integrated, bio-psychosocial interventions delivered in the context of a value base offering hope, empowerment and a youth-focused approach. Over the 12 chapters in the book, the authors, all experienced clinicians and researchers from multi-professional backgrounds, demonstrate that long-term recovery needs to replace short term remission as the key target of early psychosis services and that, to achieve this, we need a change in the way we deliver EIP: one that takes account of the different stages of psychosis and the ‘bespoke’ targeting of integrated medical, psychological and social treatments during the ‘critical period’. Illustrated with a wealth of clinical examples, this book will be of great interest to clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and other associated mental health professionals.

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder together affect 65 million people worldwide. A first-hand account, Life After Psychosis will help those who have survived psychosis, their families, and mental health professionals better understand psychotic illness and how one can recover. All aspects of life with a psychotic illness are addressed, including: • Medication • Financial issues • Work • Relationships • Stigma It is possible to enjoy life after psychosis. Understanding, knowledge, professional help, and support during and after recovery will help those who suffer from a psychotic illness and aid them on their journey to wellness. This book provides hope, encouragement, and a companion on that journey.

The Recovery of the Self in Psychosis details specific therapeutic approaches as well as considers how treatments can be individually tailored and adapted to help persons whose mental health challenges may be either mild or more severe. By focusing on basic elements of the experiences of persons diagnosed with psychosis and exploring the broader meanings these experiences have, each of these treatments offers distinctive ways to help persons define and manage their own recovery. The book includes measurable therapeutic processes, an empirically supported conceptual basis for understanding disturbances in self-experience and rich descriptions of the recovery process. The Recovery of the Self in Psychosis moves beyond approaches which dictate what health is to persons with psychosis through education. It will be essential reading for all clinical psychologists and psychotherapists working with people diagnosed with psychosis.

Recovering Sanity is a compassionately written examination of the experience of psychosis and related mental illnesses. By presenting four in-depth profiles of illness and recovery, Dr. Edward Podvoll reveals the brilliance and chaos of the psychotic mind and demonstrates its potential for recovery outside of traditional institutional settings. Dr. Podvoll counters the conventional thinking that the millions of Americans suffering from psychosis can never fully recover. He offers a bold new approach to treatment that involves home care with a specially trained team of practitioners. Using "basic attendance," a treatment technique inspired by the author's study of Buddhist psychology, healthcare professionals can use the tools of compassion and awareness to help patients recover their underlying sanity. Originally published as The Seduction of Madness, this reissue includes new introductory material and two new appendices.