Larkin Warren - Trauma & psychosis: new directions for theory and therapy

Trauma and Psychosis provides a valuable contribution to the current understanding of the possible relationships between the experience of trauma and the range of phenomena currently referred to as psychosis.

Warren Larkin and Anthony P. Morrison bring together contributions from leading clinicians and researchers in a range of fields including clinical psychology, mental health nursing and psychiatry. The book is divided into three parts, providing comprehensive coverage of the relevant research and clinical applications. Part I Research and theoretical perspectives provides the reader with a broad understanding of current and developing theoretical perspectives. Part II Specific populations examines the relationship between trauma and psychotic experiences in specific populations. Part III From theory to therapy draws together current knowledge and investigates how it might be used to benefit individuals experiencing psychosis.

This book will be invaluable for clinicians and researchers interested in gaining a greater insight into the interaction between trauma and psychosis.

Warren Larkin is Lead Consultant Clinical Psychologist in a specialist early intervention service for young people who experience psychosis. He is also an Honorary Lecturer at Lancaster University and is engaged in an ongoing research programme examining the theme of trauma and psychosis.

Anthony P. Morrison is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Manchester and coordinates early intervention services for Bolton, Salford and Trafford Mental Health Trust. In addition, he has edited and authored several books on the subject of cognitive therapy for psychosis.

Contributors: Paul Bebbington, Sarah Bendall, Richard P. Bentall, Max Birchwood, Pauline Callcott, Sandra D. M. Escher, Susie Farrelly, David Fowler, Ruth Fox, Daniel Freeman, Philippa Garety, Andrew I. Gumley, Corrina Hackman, Paul Hammersley, Amy Hardy, Chris Jackson, M. Kay Jankowski, Helen Krstev, Elizabeth Kuipers, Warren Larkin, Angus MacBeth, Patrick McGorry, Anthony P. Morrison, Kim T. Mueser, John Read, Rebecca Rollinson, Marius A. J. Romme, Stanley D. Rosenberg, Thom Rudegeair, Ben Smith, Craig Steel, Douglas Turkington.

First published in 2006 by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Taylor & Francis
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This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2007.

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2006 selection and editorial matter, Warren Larkin and Anthony P. Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

This publication has been produced with paper manufactured to strict environmental standards and with pulp derived from sustainable forests.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Trauma & psychosis : new directions for theory and therapy / edited by Warren Larkin & Anthony P. Morrison.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN13: 9781583918203 (hbk)
ISBN10: 1583918205 (hbk)
1. PsychosesEtiology. 2. Psychic trauma. 3. Post-traumatic stress disorder. I. Larkin, Warren. II. Morrison, Anthony P., 1969. III. Title: Trauma and psychosis.
[DNLM: 1. Psychotic Disordersetiology. 2. Stress Disorders, Post-Traumaticcomplications. 3. Psychotic Disorderstherapy. 4. Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic therapy. 5. Cognitive Therapymethods.
WM 200 T777 2006]
RC512.T735 2006
616.8521dc22
2006025822

ISBN 0-203-96601-5 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 13: 9781583918203 (Print Edition)

ISBN 10: 1583918205

For Amy, Poppy and my Mum and Dad, whose love and encouragement have made many things possible WL

For Soph, again, and Lula for the first time APM

Many times, books are edited to provide a useful update of existing paradigms in research and clinical practice. More rarely, a book appears that for the first time comprehensively brings together data from different sources that combine into a true paradigm shift with major implications for clinicians, patients and researchers.

This book does exactly that. It describes a new way of understanding the experience of psychosis by focusing on a powerful environmental influence that since the early 1990s, as the dominant techno-optimistic view that psychosis equalled the passive reflection of a diseased brain rose and fell, struggled to get into view. The authors demonstrate that the evidence linking trauma, in particular in childhood, and psychosis not only is scientifically sound, but also provides a means of tracing the psychological mechanisms of the phenomena of psychosis, its onset in young adulthood, the relapses that patients present with, and the relationship between PTSD and psychosis. The book rightly dedicates ample space to the therapeutic implications of uncovered cognitive mechanisms, and the approaches that can be used to help patients discuss their experiences.

The editors have done a remarkable job in bringing together the foremost experts in the field, providing a clear structure for and coherence between the chapters, thus helping the reader to effortlessly understand the context, the aetiological evidence, cognitive mechanisms and therapeutic approaches in that order. The most important issue, however, and the one the authors ought to be congratulated on most, is the fact that they were capable of spotting and developing the new paradigm in the first place. This book deserves widespread reading.

Jim van Os

Acknowledgement

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The concept for the book cover was created by service users at the Moorside Unit, Trafford General Hospital. Part of a series of art projects delivered by blueSCI.

blueSCI is a not-for-profit organisation based at Broome House, Trafford which promotes wellbeing through social engagement and creative opportunities. blueSCI works with individuals to achieve their goals and aspirations, promoting recovery, self-management and social inclusion in partnership with other agencies and mainstream organisations.

For more information contact

Introduction

Warren Larkin and Anthony P. Morrison

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This volume is intended to provide clinicians, academics and students with an understanding of the possible relationships between the experience of trauma (early sexual, physical and emotional abuse for the most part, although it is recognised that revictimisation and traumatic stressors in adulthood are also important) and the range of phenomena currently referred to as psychosis. The contributors to this volume are clinicians and researchers recognised as leaders in the field of trauma and psychosis. The contributors represent a variety of professional backgrounds, including clinical psychology, mental health nursing and psychiatry. The majority of the contributors write from a cognitive psychological perspective, while others are more eclectic in their theoretical orientation.