A compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions
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Date
2021-06Author
Forkert, Ava
Freeman, Daniel
Waite, Felicity
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Forkert, A., Brown, P., Freeman, D., & Waite, F. (2021). A compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1-13.
Abstract
Negative beliefs about the self, including low self-compassion, have been identified as a putative causal factor in the occurrence of paranoia. Therefore, improving self-compassion may be one route to reduce paranoia.
Aims:
To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and potential clinical effects of a brief compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions.
Method:
Twelve patients with persecutory delusions received an individual four-session compassionate imagery intervention. Assessments of self-concept and paranoia were completed before treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 1-month follow-up. A qualitative study exploring participants’ experiences of the treatment was also completed.
Results:
Twelve out of 14 eligible patients referred to the study agreed to take part. All participants completed all therapy sessions and assessments. Post-treatment, there were improvements in self-compassion (change score –0.64, 95% CI –1.04, –0.24, d = –1.78), negative beliefs about the self (change score 2.42, 95% CI –0.37, 5.20, d = 0.51), and paranoia (change score 10.08, 95% CI 3.47, 16.69, d = 0.61). There were no serious adverse events. Three themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: ‘effortful learning’, ‘seeing change’ and ‘taking it forward’. Participants described a process of active and effortful engagement in therapy which was rewarded with positive changes, including feeling calmer, gaining clarity, and developing acceptance.
Conclusion:
This uncontrolled feasibility study indicates that a brief compassionate imagery intervention for patients with persecutory delusions is feasible, acceptable, and may lead to clinical benefits.
Description
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.