Topic
Psychosis
Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia or delusional disorder, change the perception of reality, for example through voices or convictions that other people do not share. Their course varies greatly from one person to another, and early treatment combining medication, therapy and family support improves the outlook. The resources in this topic are written for people who hear voices, for their relatives and, in the manuals, for the therapists who work with them.
8 resources
For the public
Someone close with schizophrenia: understanding and supporting
Your son, your sister or your partner lives with schizophrenia, and you no longer know whether to contradict them, reassure them, insist on treatment or say nothing. This guide explains what the person is going through, what research has shown about the role of families, how to talk in a way that calms things down, how to spot a relapse early and how to prepare a plan in advance. It also talks about you, your exhaustion and the help you are entitled to.
Hearing voices: understanding and coping
Hearing a voice that no one else can hear is more frequent than people think, and it does not automatically mean what one fears. This guide explains what research has established, why some people suffer a great deal from it and others very little, which strategies help day to day, and why medical advice is always the first step.
When a parent has a mental illness: supporting the child and the teenager
A mother who no longer gets up, a father in hospital, a parent who drinks or hears voices: many children grow up alongside a parent who has a mental illness, and most of them will not develop that parent's illness. This guide explains what the child goes through, what research has established about the risk and about what protects against it, and how to talk to the child about the illness according to their age, get through a hospital admission, keep the child from becoming the family's carer and protect their life as a child. It offers an eight-week plan and says when to seek help.
For professionals
These manuals are written for psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners. Anyone can read a preview; the full text is reserved for practitioners who have submitted proof of their professional status and who hold a professional plan.
Delusional disorder: a therapist's manual
A sixteen-key-session protocol, over six to nine months, for adults with delusional disorder: an unshakeable conviction — persecution, jealousy, erotomania, infestation or another somatic theme, grandiosity — in a person whose functioning is otherwise often preserved. First, engagement built on the patient's distress and request, neither confirming nor contesting, a transparent framework linked to the psychiatrist, and an assessment of the risk specific to the theme. Then understanding what maintains the conviction: worry, sleep, isolation, reasoning biases under strain, safety behaviours. Next, loosening through the search for other explanations and behavioural experiments, work on the complaints, checking and repeated consultations that damage life, relationships, a relapse-watch plan and a life project. What the psychologist needs to know about medication, family and friends, the themes one by one, seven worksheets, and the references of a field where research is still thin.
First-episode psychosis: a therapist's manual
A sixteen-key-session protocol, over twelve to eighteen months, for adolescents and young adults who have just been through a first episode of psychosis, within an early intervention service. First, meeting a person still in shock, putting words to what happened, and assessing risk, substance use, trauma and health. Then understanding through a stress-vulnerability model in plain language, identifying what came before the episode, and talking about treatment and its effects through shared decision-making. Next, getting back into a rhythm, working on cannabis, on the experiences that persist and on the mood that often collapses after the episode, with the shame and the fear of being labelled. Finally, studies and work, the family, a written relapse prevention plan, and what the episode does not say about the person. Early intervention and your place in the team, physical health, seven worksheets, and the references of a field in which research is solid on the service model and thinner on each ingredient.
Schizophrenia: cognitive therapy and recovery — a therapist's manual
A sixteen-key-session protocol, over nine to twelve months, for adults with established schizophrenia, seen as outpatients and in liaison with a psychiatrist. First, meeting the person rather than the file, setting recovery goals that belong to them, and assessing risks, health and functioning. Then tracing their history and what has helped, normalising experiences and building a shared formulation. Next, working with voices and the beliefs that make them powerful, with frightening ideas, and with lack of drive by addressing defeatist beliefs. Finally, the label and self-esteem, loneliness and relationships, work, activity and the body, a written relapse prevention plan, and a session with the family. What the psychologist needs to know about antipsychotics and clozapine, negative and cognitive symptoms, physical health, seven worksheets, and the references of a field in which research is abundant and nuanced.
Schizoaffective disorder: psychoeducation, relapse prevention and cognitive therapy — a therapist's manual
A sixteen-key-session protocol, over six to nine months, for adults with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar or depressive type, seen as outpatients and in liaison with a psychiatrist. First, meeting the person, assessing danger and situating the disorder, then drawing the life chart on two lines, mood and psychosis, and speaking honestly about a diagnosis that is open to debate. Next, identifying the early signs of elevation, depression and psychosis, and bringing them together in a single three-level prevention plan, before working on rhythms and sleep. Finally, treatment through shared decision-making, psychotic experiences that persist, low mood and the safety plan, substance use and the consequences of episodes, a session with those close to the person, and planning what comes next. What the psychologist needs to know about antipsychotics, lithium and its signs of toxicity, and suicide risk, seven worksheets, and the references of a field that borrows heavily from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Children and adolescents whose parent has a mental illness: a therapist's manual
A session-by-session protocol for children and adolescents aged 4 to 17 who have a parent with a mental illness, and for their parents: three assessment sessions in which each person is seen alone, three sessions with the parents, two with the child, a family meeting in which the parents themselves talk about the illness, a written plan for relapses and hospital admissions, the link with the school, a module for the adolescent and a brief format of three meetings. Safety first, without confusing mental illness with danger; age-appropriate psychoeducation that undoes the child's guilt; the parent's treatment as part of prevention, in liaison with their care team. Based on Family Talk, "Let's Talk about Children" and the Compas family intervention, with modest measured effects, stated as they are. Particular situations, worksheets to hand over and full references.
Other topics
- Addictions10
- ADHD6
- Anxiety34
- Attention & focus9
- Autism4
- Children & parents35
- Depression & mood25
- Eating disorders4
- Emotions24
- Gender identity1
- Grief7
- Loneliness5
- Longevity5
- Mindfulness1
- Neurocognitive disorders3
- OCD7
- Personality disorders12
- Relationships14
- Self-esteem7
- Sleep12
- Stress & burnout10
- Studying3
- Tics & Tourette1
- Trauma10
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