Psychosis and supportive therapy are two different things as psychosis is essentially a prominent symptom of mental conditions such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders, while supportive therapy is one of the most suitable psychosis treatments. How both of these connect forms the object of discussion in the words below, so let’s start the discussion!
What is Psychosis?
As mentioned before, it is one of the most prominent symptoms that are often seen in a different range of mental conditions, especially the ones that lead to a break from reality, for example, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. It can also be seen in mood disorders such as bipolar or anxiety disorders such as the one called obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Psychosis is essentially characterized by two different sub-symptoms called hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations are essentially things that are not there, for example, seeing, hearing, or feeling the touch of things, which others can’t but the affected individual can. Delusions are essential beliefs that are out of touch with reality and are often found to be grandiose, for example, one person who has delusions thinks he will become a savior of the world one day. Sometimes, psychosis comes along with paranoia, which is an extreme form of irrational fear, which often relates to conspiracy, and sometimes it is even disgruntled speech or behavior.
Is psychosis curable? Due to the nature of symptoms in psychosis, which can be extremely debilitating for the sufferer. Medication such as the ones called antipsychotics can help treat it but can be persistent in giving the prescribed person a range of different side effects, which aren’t good in any way. On top of it, psychosis is also not curable, as something is not curable as long as the underlying condition is not treated properly. Treatment for psychosis is necessary as managing the ailment will become the main objective for both the affected individual and the support system. One of these ways is one-of-a-kind psychosis therapy called supportive psychotherapy, which is extremely suitable for treating the symptoms of psychosis and even the underlying condition that brings psychosis to the surface!
Read More: Psychosis: Causes, Diagnosis, Symptoms and Treatment
What is Supportive Psychotherapy?
It is essentially a kind of therapy that focuses on learning and understanding the symptoms of a mental condition rather than going for analyzing the deep-rooted conflicts and traumas to understand an underlying condition that are leading to changes in the personality of an affected individual. It focuses on decreasing the emotional distress associated with and managing the symptoms of a mental condition, specifically its most predominant symptom.
So, where does psychosis-supportive therapy come in?
Psychotherapy, which is essentially defined as a “talk” therapy that helps patients come to terms with the mental conditions they are suffering from, was the gold standard for treating schizophrenia(1) as this mental condition is predominantly characterized by psychosis plus other symptoms. The invention of antipsychotic medication diminished this role significantly during the 60s.
While previously it was difficult for schizophrenia patients to stay put during the usual psychotherapy sessions, the advent of antipsychotics did help them stay in one place for a longer period of time. This allowed affected individuals to better absorb the healing effects of psychotherapy(1). Still, it necessitated the need for a psychotherapy type that went out of its way to decrease the urgent debilitating effects of symptoms of mental conditions such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. This is when psychosis-supportive therapy came along and made things much easier.
What Does Psychosis Supportive Therapy Address?
Psychosis’ supportive therapy tries to address the minor issues that lead to symptoms of psychosis. For example, you have psychosis through bipolar disorder but it is not diagnosed yet. Rather than going into why you are suffering from bipolar, a mental health expert in supportive psychotherapy will try to understand how it came to be by building a rapport with the affected individual instead of asking why it came to be. This way they will also try to show empathy and respect for a patient’s ongoing turmoil while reflecting on what they have understood about specific symptoms and what further they can do to understand it more(2). Here a therapist or any other mental health professional tries to set up a “relationship” of sorts, where communication is the key to decreasing the emotional distress associated with the symptoms, which in this case are related to psychosis. These professionals will try to make sense of even the most incoherent of narratives that have come to be known for schizophrenia or even psychosis.
Read More: The Link Between OCD and Psychosis
The Main Features Of Supportive Therapy For Psychosis
These are the main components that the supportive therapy for psychosis should be having(5), or even perhaps for supportive psychotherapy in general:
Therapeutic alliance
It should be the core of psychosis supportive therapy, as it has been persistently proved the better the therapeutic alliance in a psychotherapy is, the more suitable it will be in treating the affected individual, especially for psychosis(3). A therapeutic alliance is all about creating a bond with affected individuals and having them on the same page for treatment and outcomes.
Empathy
It’s all about trying to understand the reality of the other person and this makes it a great way in terms of answers to how to treat psychosis.
Active Listening
This component should be the foremost component for psychosis therapies like supportive psychotherapy where one has to actively listen to what the affected individual is saying to understand the underlying condition.
Cognitive Reframing
This is where experts try to let affected individuals see their symptoms of psychosis from a different perspective and in it, they try to replace a negative idea with a positive one. There is exceptional evidence in a study done in 2023(4).
Effective Emotion Management
One who is unable to regulate emotions is at the mercy of extremely powerful emotions, so regulation should be a priority for supportive psychotherapy for psychosis.
Managing the Emotional Bond
One shortcoming of psychosis-supportive therapy is one sometimes creating a strong emotional bond with the mental health professional due to the emotional availability of the former in this type of psychosis therapy. Managing this emotional bond, so it does not go out of hand is not just a good idea generally but it can also be a good way that can make psychosis go away.
Leading By Example
A mental health professional can act as a “role model” who demonstrates a desired behavior or response and the patient learns by watching. This is what we also call behavior modeling.
Positive Reinforcement
It helps shape behavior and is a powerful tool to bring about behavior modeling towards positive outcomes. In supportive psychotherapy, positive reinforcement comes in the shape of compliments from the therapist after the patient has displayed a desirable behavioral response.
Psychoeducation
This is all about teaching the mental health expert learns in sessions relating to psychosis therapy to family members, friends of the affected individuals, and themselves too.
Esteem-Building Exercises
Psychosis-supportive therapy should also incorporate esteem-building exercises as affected individuals often are the victim of low self-esteem at the price of trying to function normally and being considered different from others who are not afflicted with a medical condition.
Read More: Signs Of Psychosis In A Teenager: Things To Know
Wrapping Up
If you are asking questions like “Can psychosis be cured?”, “How to get out of psychosis?”, “Is psychosis curable?”, “Can psychosis go away?”, or “How to treat psychosis?”, then you have come to the right place as we at Inland Empire Behavioral Group are more than capable of providing services such as psychosis supportive therapy or alternative treatments like psychiatric medication management or telehealth psychiatry related to ailments like depression, anxiety, OCD, eating disorder or addiction.
