On decentering from psychosis: Do cognitive fusion and self-compassion mediate the relationship between psychosis-type experience and distress?
Authors: Rothwell, T., Newman Taylor, K., Bolderston, H., Deveson, C. and Maguire, N.
Conference: BABCP Annual Conference
Dates: 22-24 July 2015
Abstract:Psychosis is often severely distressing and disabling. In order to support people’s recovery, we need to understand the psychological processes mediating the relationship between psychotic phenomena and distress, and target these in therapy. CBT for psychosis has significant but modest benefits to date. If we are to improve our interventions, cognitive theory and therapy need to be more closely aligned in this area. Treatments can be derived more systematically from theoretical paradigms that have been tested with analogue groups, and lab work can be directed towards testing specific components of our psychological models and interventions. Current cognitive theory and ‘third wave’ approaches, such as ACT, assume that it is our relationship to paranoia and voices that predicts emotional and behavioural consequences (following Fresco et al., 2007; Teasdale et al., 2000; 2002). If we can identify mediators of distress we may be able to isolate key targets for therapeutic intervention. This paper describes two parallel studies examining the possible mediating Page 87 of 141 role of cognitive fusion and self-compassion (two aspects of decentred awareness) in the relationship between psychotic-type experience and distress. General population samples completed measures of paranoia, hallucinations, cognitive fusion, self-compassion and distress. Mediational analyses yielded significant indirect effects, with medium to large effect sizes, suggesting that the degree to which we fuse with paranoid cognition or hallucinatory experience, and respond with self-compassion, predicts distress. We discuss the implications both for our understanding of the maintenance of distressing psychosis, and for clinical interventions aimed at these aspects of decentred awareness.
Source: Manual