Сведения об авторах: САГАЛАКОВА Ольга Анатольевна, кандидат психологических наук, доцент кафедры клинической психологии Алтайского государственного университета (Барнаул, Россия).
The paper examines the problem of the use of modern AVATAR therapy for auditory hallucinations (AH). There is a traditional asymmetry of the focus of interest in the study of AH with a bias towards the study of the final result of perception at the expense of comprehension of the process of AH development. The methodology of the cultural-activity approach and study of the patterns of the genesis of the “voices” in pathopsychology provide an adequate basis for understanding the nature of AH. Current intervention in psychosis is based on recognizing the role of psychological factors. АН are amplified in the state of anxiety, or in case of disturbed interpersonal relationships. AVATAR therapy provides the patient with psychological means of restoring deliberate mental activity, gaining control over one’s mental activity through its objectification, making the “voice” less malevolent and managing negative experiences. The method is based on a dialogue with an avatar, a visual digital image of the “voice”. It is designed in a virtual environment evoking a presence effect, which allows directed interaction with it in order to increase assertiveness. The experiments showed encouraging, but still debatable, results of the effectiveness of AVATAR therapy.
An analytical review of the directions for auditory hallucinations (AH) interventions in the context of the development of ideas about the phenomenon of “voices” is presented. The transformation of methodological approaches evolves from the conceptualization of hallucinations as “perceptions without an object” and “production of sick brain” to an acknowledgment of the connection with the stimulus and the significance of the subject's activity; from the concept of AH as a symptom to the analysis of perception as a mediated activity, the differentiation of AH cognitive and perceptual models. Changes in conceptualization determine the contemporary goals of the intervention. In the cultural-activity approach methods are used to improve the psychological state based on the comprehension of the systemic nature of the defect in mental activity. The limitations of comparing the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy are shown. In the development of evidence-based intervention strategies the integration of cultural-activity approach thesis and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) models is productive. Within the framework of the “third wave” CBT and therapy based on social relations the leading techniques for adapting to “voices” are presented. Conceptualization the mechanisms of AH allows to move from the goal of intervention related to adaptation in defect – to distress reduction, increase the controllability of AH, to overcoming the consequences of psychosis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.