Recently the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued the Schizophrenia Guideline ‘Core Interventions in the Treatment and Management of Schizophrenia’ (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, 2002). This evidence-based guideline, in which I had a hand and must therefore declare an interest, recommends the provision in the National Health Service (NHS) of two forms of psychological intervention; family interventions and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for psychosis. Kingdon and Turkington’s book is therefore timely, for it provides a lucid introduction to the provision of CBT for psychosis in the context of NHS services. The introduction gives a brief overview of the clinical approach, while most of the remainder of the book consists of case studies written by therapists. What distinguishes the book from others is that the therapists, from the different professions of psychology, psychiatry and nursing, have different levels of training and experience. Each case study chapter starts with a brief description of the author’s route into the practice of CBT for psychosis and the service context in which the work takes place. This makes the book lively and engaging.
A variety of settings are described - acute in-patient wards, community and out-patient settings, high-security hospital and rehabilitation settings. It comes across clearly that CBT for psychosis does not need to be restricted to only ‘easy’ cases. The case studies are presented in different formats - and while I found some more readable than others, collectively they provide a good overview of this therapy.
The final three chapters of the book address the topical and important issue of dissemination - dealing with training, supervision and implementation in service settings. There is a great deal for us to learn about these issues. This book offers a common-sense view of training and has some useful suggestions for implementation, such as an approach to estimating need. A summary of the evidence for CBT for psychosis is also given. In such a rapidly developing field, the review of the evidence is already somewhat dated and more recent systematic reviews are now available, not least the review for the NICE guideline.
In sum, this is a timely introduction to CBT for psychosis, with its feet firmly on the ground of NHS services. It should interest both those who are already and those who would like to become CBT therapy practitioners, as well as senior clinicians and managers with responsibility for service development.
Open access
eLetters
No eLetters have been published for this article.