Monsters don’t bother me anymore’ forensic mental health service users’ experiences of acceptance and commitment therapy for psychosis
Abstract
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for psychosis (ACTp) is an approach that aims to change the relationship an individual with psychosis has with difficult thoughts, emotions and experiences. It promotes the use of acceptance, defusion, mindfulness and focussing on valued outcomes as opposed to struggling with psychotic experiences. This service evaluation project explored service users’ experiences and meanings of ACTp within a medium secure mental health service. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews with 10 male service users. Four main themes emerged from the data: ‘Recovery’, ‘Insight’, ‘Developing Skills’ and ‘Accessibility’. Overall, service users viewed their experience of ACTp positively and identified encouraging therapeutic outcomes. These findings suggest that ACTp is an approach that should be considered a therapeutic option within forensic mental health contexts. These outcomes were compared with previous research findings. Limitations of the study, clinical implications and ideas for future research have been discussed.
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Although most qualitative studies of adults mentioned values as a helpful component in treatment, contact with the present moment was highlighted and experienced as the most critical and significant core process.
“Although most qualitative studies of adults mentioned values as a helpful component in treatment, contact with the present moment was highlighted and experienced as the most critical and significant core process (Bacon et al., 2014; Davies et al., 2019; Bahattab and AlHadi, 2021).”
From “And I Can Remind Myself That I Am All Of This”: adolescents’ experiences of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2019
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“Although most qualitative studies of adults mentioned values as a helpful component in treatment, contact with the present moment was highlighted and experienced as the most critical and significant core process (Bacon et al., 2014; Davies et al., 2019; Bahattab and AlHadi, 2021).”
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- Authors
- Davies, B. E., Morgan, S., John-Evans, H., & Deere, E.
- Affiliations
- Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (GB)
- Glanrhyd Hospital (GB)
- Trainee Clinical Psychologist South Wales School of Clinical Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Davies, Bronwen E.
- ORCID
- Davies, Bronwen E.
- Venue
- The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-05-07
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 594-613
- ISSN
- 1478-9949 (ISSN-L)
- 1478-9957
- OpenAlex
- W2943927911
- Cited by
- 9
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- forensic mental health, service user experiences, psychosis, recovery, insight
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