Psychological Interventions for Psychosis

This book shows how psychological and social interventions can help people with psychosis. It brings together both theoretical chapters that contribute to the reconceptualization of psychosis and clinical cases illustrating how contemporary psychotherapeutic intervention models can be applied in the treatment of this mental health condition, with reflections, strategies and practical guidelines demonstrating how these models can inform professional practice in mental healthcare.  

Chapters brought together in this volume aim to reflect a paradigm shift in psychosis care. They present person-centered models that lead to a way of seeing, understanding and treating psychosis that is very different from the traditional biomedical model. Current authors and approaches are revolutionizing an outdated model trapped in purely pharmacological actions and tautological explanations of a biological nature, where symptom control is the basic and fundamental form of approach, and in which psychotherapeutic actions take second place as subsidiary to the former. Approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Acceptance and Recovery Therapy by Levels, Open Dialogue, Compassion-Centered Therapy or the Hearing Voices movement, to name but a few of those presented in this book, represent a journey of self-knowledge and learning for those recovering from psychosis, and have an intense transformative potential for the therapeutic team.

The fundamental principle that guides this book is to share models belonging to psychology that aim at personal development while respecting the needs, values and goals of each person, and that can be adopted by any professional or student of clinical psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work or any other discipline searching for more humanistic approaches to treat psychosis.

Juan Antonio Díaz-Garrido holds a PhD in Clinical Sciences from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, and is a clinical psychologist specialized in contextual-behavioral therapies working at the Dr. Negrín University Hospital of Gran Canaria (HUDGCDN), Spain. He is co-editor of the book Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso en Psicosis: Aceptación y Recuperación por Niveles (ART) [Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Psychosis: Acceptance and Recovery by Levels (ART)] (Pirámide, 2021) and teaching director of several editions of the specialized training course in intervention in psychosis jointly developed by ITACA training and the Madrid Open University (UDIMA), Spain. He currently coordinates and participates in various research projects associated with the HUDGCDN Psychiatry Service.

Raquel Zúñiga is a clinical psychologist working at the acute hospitalization unit of the University Hospital Complex of the Canary Islands (CHUC). She is specialized in neuropsychology and contextual models and is co-editor of the book Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso en Psicosis: Aceptación y Recuperación por Niveles (ART) [Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Psychosis: Acceptance and Recovery by Levels (ART)] (Pirámide, 2021). She currently participates in various research projects associated with the HUDGDN Psychiatry Service.

Horus Laffite is a clinical psychologist working at the Dr. Negrín University Hospital of Gran Canaria, Spain. He is specialized in neuropsychology and contextual therapies and holds a law degree. He is co-editor of the book Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso en Psicosis: Aceptación y Recuperación por Niveles (ART) [Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Psychosis: Acceptance and Recovery by Levels (ART)] (Pirámide, 2021) and currently co-directs the specialized training course in intervention in psychosis jointly developed by ITACA training and the Madrid Open University (UDIMA), Spain. He participates in various research projects associated with the HUDGDN Psychiatry Service.

Eric Morris is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University and a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Northern Health in Melbourne, Australia. He is a founding member and former director of the Acceptance and Commitment Health Special Interest Group of the British Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapies. Eric develops research projects on psychological approaches to support recovery from psychosis, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He is co-editor of the book Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness for Psychosis (Wiley, 2013) and co-author of the book ACT for Recovery from Psychosis (Context Press, 2018). He is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.