Psychological therapies for auditory hallucinations (voices) : current status and key directions for future research

Thomas, Neil and Hayward, Mark and Peters, Emmanuelle and van der Gaag, Mark and Bentall, Richard P. and Jenner, Jack and Strauss, Clara and Sommer, Iris E. and Johns, Louise C. and Varese, Filippo and García-Montes, José Manuel and Waters, Flavie and Dodgson, Guy and McCarthy-Jones, Simon (2014) Psychological therapies for auditory hallucinations (voices) : current status and key directions for future research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 40 (Suppl ). S202-S212. ISSN 0586-7614

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Abstract

This report from the International Consortium on Hallucinations Research considers the current status and future directions in research on psychological therapies targeting auditory hallucinations (hearing voices). Therapy approaches have evolved from behavioral and coping-focused interventions, through formulation-driven interventions using methods from cognitive therapy, to a number of contemporary developments. Recent developments include the application of acceptance- and mindfulness-based approaches, and consolidation of methods for working with connections between voices and views of self, others, relationships and personal history. In this article, we discuss the development of therapies for voices and review the empirical findings. This review shows that psychological therapies are broadly effective for people with positive symptoms, but that more research is required to understand the specific application of therapies to voices. Six key research directions are identified: (1) moving beyond the focus on overall efficacy to understand specific therapeutic processes targeting voices, (2) better targeting psychological processes associated with voices such as trauma, cognitive mechanisms, and personal recovery, (3) more focused measurement of the intended outcomes of therapy, (4) understanding individual differences among voice hearers, (5) extending beyond a focus on voices and schizophrenia into other populations and sensory modalities, and (6) shaping interventions for service implementation.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Schizophrenia Bulletin
Additional Information:
© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2738
Subjects:
?? psychiatry and mental health ??
ID Code:
71499
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
29 Oct 2014 16:14
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
31 Dec 2023 00:32