Cognitive Therapy for Command Hallucinations An advanced practical companion

Auditory hallucinations rank amongst the most treatment resistant symptoms of schizophrenia, with command hallucinations being the most distressing, high risk and treatment resistant of all. This new work provides clinicians with a detailed guide, illustrating in depth the techniques and strategies developed for working with command hallucinations. Woven throughout with key cases and clinical examples, Cognitive Therapy for Command Hallucinations clearly demonstrates how these techniques can be applied in a clinical setting. Strategies and solutions for overcoming therapeutic obstacles are shown alongside treatment successes and failures to provide the reader with an accurate understanding of the complexities of cognitive therapy. This helpful and practical guide with be of interest to clinical and forensic psychologists, cognitive behavioural therapists, nurses and psychiatrists.

Introduction. CTCH Level 1 Assessment and Engagement. CTCH Level 2: Promoting Control. CTCH Level 3: Socialising the client to the Cognitive Model and Developing the Formulation. CTCH Level 4: Reframing and Disputing Omnipotence, Omniscience and Compliance Beliefs. CTCH Level 5: Reducing Safety Behaviours and Compliance. CTCH Level 6: Raising the Power of the Individual. CTCH Level 7: Addressing Beliefs about Voice Identity, Meaning and Purpose. CTCH Level 8: Addressing the Psychological Origins of the Voices: Working with Core Schemas. Ending Therapy and Relapse Prevention in CTCH. Special Issues. Conclusions and Implications

Alan Meaden is a consultant clinical psychologist working for Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and is the lead for the Trust’s Assertive Outreach and Non-Acute Inpatient Services. He has been involved in research on command hallucinations and the development of theory and practice for their treatment for over a decade. Most recently he has been the supervisor and trainer for therapists on COMMAND: the recent multicentre randomised controlled trial. Nadine Keenis achartered clinical psychologist on the COMMAND Trial (CBT for command hallucinations) and at the Psychological Interventions Clinic for outpatients with psychosis, South London and Maudsley Trust. Robert Aston is a cognitive behavioural therapist at Birmingham University. Karen Barton is a clinical psychologist at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Sandra Bucci is a lecturer in clinical psychology at the University of Manchester.