Evolutionary systems therapy for paranoid personality disorder: A seven cases series.

Little is known about effective psychosocial treatments for paranoid personality disorder. This study explores the feasibility of a novel treatment, namely Evolutionary Systems Therapy, in supporting individuals diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. Seven patients attended 10 months of individual therapy without receiving any psychopharmacological treatment.

Threatening Beliefs About Self and Others Moderate the Association Between Psychoticism and Psychological Distress.

Psychoticism is a multidimensional personality construct involving odd or eccentric behavior, quasi-psychotic experiences, mistrust, interpersonal detachment, and liability for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as well as significant distress. Recent advances suggest it can be understood as a dimension that is continuously distributed in the population, leading to questions about factors that contribute to distress and dysfunction among people with a schizotypal liability. We investigated in a large nonclinical sample of young adults whether associations between psychoticism and psychological distress would increase in the presence of threatening beliefs.

A pilot randomized controlled trial comparing a novel compassion and metacognition approach for schizotypal personality disorder with a combination of cognitive therapy and psychopharmacological treatment.

Background: Schizotypal personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of maladaptive behavior that has been associated with the liability for schizophrenia. Little is known about effective psychosocial interventions. This pilot non-inferiority randomized controlled trial aimed to compare a novel form of psychotherapy tailored for this disorder and a combination of cognitive therapy and psychopharmacological treatment.

The Relationship Between Covid-19 Risk Perception and Vaccine Hesitancy in Cancer Patients: The Moderating Role of Externalizing Traits.

Objective: This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the role of externalizing traits in moderating the relationship between COVID-19 risk perception and vaccine hesitancy in patients diagnosed with cancer. A community-based participatory approach - comprising a preliminary qualitative inquiry and a subsequent cross-sectional research - was used to promote effective vaccination campaigns.

Method: 12 people diagnosed with cancer and 7 cancer professionals were recruited for the qualitative inquiry, 356 people either under cancer treatment or in follow-up care for the cross-sectional research.

Effectiveness of a Mindful Compassion Care Program in reducing burnout and psychological distress amongst frontline hospital nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Recent studies have shown that nurses have been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than any other group of hospital workers in terms of anxiety, depression, and burnout. Several clinical studies had previously demonstrated the effectiveness of mindfulness and compassion interventions in reducing burnout and emotional distress amongst healthcare professionals.

Methods And Analysis: A parallel-group randomized controlled trial will assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-focused programme on frontline nurses who had been working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emerging psychotherapeutic approaches to addressing self-experience in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Growing awareness that many who are diagnosed with schizophrenia recover has spurred the development of new psychosocial approaches to treatment. These new approaches include forms of individual and group psychotherapy whose focus extends beyond reducing symptoms and improving skills to subjective outcomes related to sense of self. This paper introduces an issue of In Session which presents six case reports which illustrating these approaches in differing international contexts.

Risk perception, treatment adherence, and personality during COVID-19 pandemic: An international study on cancer patients.

Objective: To explore the role of personality traits in moderating the relation between COVID-19 risk perception and treatment adherence, and between risk perception and psychosocial distress in patients diagnosed with cancer.

Methods: An online survey (n = 1281) was conducted worldwide in seven countries (Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey). Inclusion criteria were to be 18 years of age or older, have received a cancer diagnosis, and be in treatment or follow-up.

A case study on a severe paranoid personality disorder client treated with metacognitive interpersonal therapy.

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a severe condition, lacking specialized and empirically supported treatment. To provide the clinician with insights into how to treat this condition, we present a case study of a 61-year-old man with severe PPD who presented with ideas of persecution, emotionally charged hostility, and comorbid antisocial personality disorder. The client was treated with 6 months of Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy, which included: creating a shared formulation of his paranoid attitudes; trying to change his inner self-image of self-as-inadequate and his interpersonal schemas where he saw the others as threatening.

A cognitive model of diminished expression in schizophrenia: The interface of metacognition, cognitive symptoms and language disturbances.

The resistance of negative symptoms to pharmacologic treatment has spurred interest in understanding the psychological factors that contribute to their formation and persistence. However, little is understood about the psychological processes that reinforce and sustain the negative symptoms domain of diminished expression. Prior research has shown that higher levels of diminished expression relate to deficits in metacognitive capacity.

The intertwined path of perfectionism and self-criticism in a client with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

Psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), where perfectionism is a defining criterion, is understudied. Despite a high prevalence few evidence-based treatments are available for the presentation. Here we describe the course of a 6-month program of metacognitive interpersonal therapy with an OCPD patient with prominent perfectionism and self-criticism, which were considered primary outcomes of the case study.

Integrating Behavioral Healthcare and Primary Care, Appropriate Balance on What Model is Driving Care, and, the Whole Spectrum of Individuals are Coming Through the Door….

With the integration of behavioral health services into primary care and other medical specialties, the community of providers and the public must address a number of questions, including: What models of care are there for these services? What kinds of providers supply these services? Are these providers trained behavioral health providers or extenders in some form? And, as these systems of care are constructed, who makes use of them? The purpose of this study is to address these questions as well as to consider some of the challenges of attending to the spectrum of needs that will arise as integrated healthcare services expand. Consideration of these questions may serve to clarify the impact that these models of healthcare will have in ways that may be readily apparent and, at the same time, in ways that may be subtler and less comprehensible. Addressing these questions is also intended to facilitate discussions within healthcare systems and among providers concerning which models of care best respond to specific populations.

Metacognitively oriented psychotherapy for schizotypal personality disorder: A two-case series.

Schizotypal personality disorder represents a broad range of maladaptive behaviour, which has been linked to both personality disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorders; however, to date, little effort has been devoted to developing psychosocial treatment approaches to address it. In response, we conducted two case studies exploring the effects of two metacognitively oriented forms of psychotherapy: metacognitive interpersonal therapy and metacognitive reflection and insight therapy for patients with schizotypal personality disorder. We chose these two forms of therapy as they have been successfully delivered, respectively, to persons with other personality disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

The social brain and heart rate variability: Implications for psychotherapy.

Purpose: Humans evolved within the mammalian line as a highly social species. Indeed, sociality has been a major driver of human social intelligence. From birth, social relationships have emotional and self-regulating properties and operate through different body systems.

Psychological Science and Innovative Strategies for Informing Health Care Redesign: A Policy Brief.

Recent health care legislation and shifting health care financing strategies are transforming health and behavioral health (a broad term referring to mental health, substance use, and health behavior) care in the United States. Advances in knowledge regarding effective treatment and services coupled with incentives for innovation in health and behavioral health care delivery systems make this a unique time for mobilizing our science to enhance the success of health and behavioral health care redesign. To optimize the potential of our current health care environment, a team was formed composed of leaders from the Societies of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, Pediatric Psychology, and Child and Family Policy and Practice (Divisions 53, 54, and 37 of the American Psychological Association).