A systematic review of relational-based therapies for the treatment of auditory hallucinations in patients with psychotic disorders. Issue 11 (20th August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dellazizzo, Laura; Giguère, Sabrina; Léveillé, Nayla; Potvin, Stéphane; Dumais, Alexandre
• Is Part Of: Psychological medicine. Volume 52:Issue 11(2022)
• Page Start: 2001
• Page End: 2008
• Publication Date: 2022-08-20
• Subjects: Auditory hallucinations -- psychotic disorders -- relational therapies -- systematic review; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Medicine and psychology -- Periodicals; Clinical psychology -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1017/S003329172200143X
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0033-2917

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Auditory hallucinations in patients with psychotic disorders may be very distressing. Unfortunately, a large proportion of individuals are resistant to pharmacological interventions and the gold-standard cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis offers at best modest effects. To improve therapeutic outcomes, several therapies have been created to establish a relationship between voice-hearers and their voices. With increasing literature, we conducted a systematic review of dialogical therapies and examined the evidence behind their efficacy. Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Articles were included if they discussed the effects of dialogical interventions for patients with psychotic disorders. Results: A total of 17 studies were included within this systematic review. Cumulative evidence from various therapies has shown that entering in a dialog with voices is beneficial to patients, even those who are resistant to current pharmacological treatments. Heightened benefits have been mainly observed with Relating Therapy and Avatar Therapy/Virtual Reality assisted Therapy, with evidence generally of moderate quality. Both these interventions have shown large to very large effects on voices and voice-related distress as well as moderate to large magnitude improvements on affective symptoms. Though, cognitive-behavioral therapy for command hallucinations and making sense of voices noted no improvements on voices. Conclusions: Literature on relational-based interventions with a strong emphasis on the relational aspects of voice hearing has shown positive effects. Results suggest that these dialogical therapies might surpass the efficacy of current gold-standard approaches.