When people develop a serious mental health condition, the stress related to coping with the illness, a new diagnosis, and getting the right care can be overwhelming for those affected as well for their family members. Family members and other loved ones play a critical role in recovery from psychotic disorders, but oftentimes they don’t know how to be supportive, are unsure of what words to use, and are ill-equipped to help.
To fill this gap, the Evidence Based Practices for Adults team led by Sarah Kopelovich, PhD, and Maria Monroe-DeVita, PhD, hosted a one-day Psychosis REACH (Recovery by Enabling Adult Carers at Home) training and three-day Psychosis REACH intensive training catered towards caregivers of loved ones experiencing psychosis and schizophrenia. Psychosis REACH takes proven psychotherapy for people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and modifies it to the needs of caregivers. The training, funded by donor support, was facilitated by Douglas Turkington, MD, a psychiatrist and Professor of Psychosocial Psychiatry at Newcastle University, UK, and Kate Hardy, Clin.Psych.D, a clinical psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford University. This was the first time Psychosis REACH training has been offered in the United States.
Both the one-day and three-day trainings reached maximum capacity, with 250 and 30 attendees respectively. By all measures it was a great success; the outpouring of thanks for the skills taught was overwhelming. Below is one testimonial from attendee Jerusha Jerome:
“The REACH psychosis training I was able to experience this week has radically changed my journey in supporting my loved one. Learning CBTp therapy has positively impacted my interactions with my family member as well as my own sanity. This was able to occur within just 24 hours. The phrase and the charge to believe “expect recovery” has changed my perspective and approach completely. After one day of training I was able to have an interaction with my loved one that helped create a positive restart in our relationship. This emotional connection had not occurred for months. I received hope from the evidence-based information and CBTp training. This is what family members, caregivers, and especially already trained medical professionals need to embrace and learn to make a positive change within our very broken and archaic health care systems.”
Q13 attended the training; you can see their coverage here.
