A group therapy program called Recovery ACT has emerged as a beacon of hope to people with psychosis.
Psychosis, characterised by symptoms of paranoia and auditory hallucinations, presents profound challenges for affected individuals, often leading to reduced quality of life and social isolation.
“People with psychosis consistently report a preference for psychological treatment to support their wellbeing and personal recovery,” says Dr Eric Morris.
Dr Eric Morris, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Northern Health, oversees the Academic Psychology Unit, a partnership between La Trobe University and Northern Health.
“While there are effective psychological treatments for psychosis, they can be difficult to access due to limited availability within healthcare systems. As such, there is an ongoing need to develop and evaluate brief psychological therapies that people with psychosis find useful and acceptable, which can be delivered by non-specialist workers in mental health services,” says Dr Morris.
“Over the last 10 years our team has been developing and evaluating a group program, Recovery ACT, to support personal recovery from psychosis in public mental health services in Melbourne.”
Recovery ACT is based on acceptance and commitment therapy, a psychological therapy that emphasises open, aware and active skills to handling life's challenges, supporting people to find their own purpose and what matters to them.
“There is good evidence that acceptance and commitment therapy is an effective treatment for supporting people with psychosis to improve their wellbeing. Additionally, group therapies have advantages in increasing social connection and learning from others, and are economical to run in public services,” he says.
Dr Morris and his team at the Academic Psychology Unit have been evaluating an Australian adaptation of Recovery ACT with promising results.
“We found that engaging people recovering from psychosis in Recovery ACT is feasible, acceptable to the participants, and safe in Australian public mental health services. Participants also reported improvements in their wellbeing and sense of personal recovery following the group program,” says Dr Morris.
“Given these results, we have now broadened our scope and are conducting a larger-scale, multi-service evaluation of Recovery ACT in partnership with Melbourne Health, St Vincent’s Healthcare, Peninsula Health, and Alfred Health.”
“Our aim is to continue learning from people with psychosis about the best ways they can be supported to live life well.”
The most recent evaluation of Recovery ACT is available as an open access paper.
