An unexpected visitor and a sword play: a randomized controlled trial of collective narrative therapy groups for primary carers of people with schizophrenia.

Background: Most family carer support programs focus on supporting carers with caregiving-related knowledge and skills to help their family members who suffer from schizophrenia in their recovery process while carers' inner resources and preferred identities are less emphasized in the existing studies.

Aims: The present study uses collective narrative therapy groups (CNTG) to promote the inner strengths and agency of family carers and help them to explore their preferred identities while caring for family members with schizophrenia.

Method: To ensure an evidence-based intervention, 89 Chinese family carers of people with schizophrenia took part in this three-wave longitudinal program evaluation study using a randomized controlled trial design.

Outside-in or Inside-out? A Randomized Controlled Trial of Two Empowerment Approaches for Family Caregivers of People with Schizophrenia.

Training-based intervention such as psychoeducational groups has become increasingly popular to empower family caregivers of people with schizophrenia, yet existing supportive programs for caregivers tend to focus more on the needs of the patients rather than the development of the caregivers. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of a skill-based empowerment psychoeducational group and an inner-resource enhancing empowerment narrative therapy group for family caregivers of people with schizophrenia. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with a longitudinal design.