A life more ordinary: A peer research method qualitative study of the Feeling Safe Programme for persecutory delusions

Abstract

Background: The Feeling Safe Programme is a cognitive therapy developed to improve outcomes for individuals with persecutory delusions. It is theoretically driven, modular and personalised, with differences in therapeutic style and content compared with first-generation cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis. Objectives: We set out to understand the participant experience of the Feeling Safe Programme. Design: A qualitative study employing interpretative phenomenological analysis. Methods: Using a peer research approach, semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with six people who had received the Feeling Safe Programme as part of the outcome clinical trial. Results: Participants spoke of feeling 'unsafe' in their daily lives before the intervention. Openness to the intervention, facilitated by identification with the programme name, and willingness to take an active role were considered important participant attributes for successful outcomes. The therapist was viewed as a professional friend who cared about the individual, which enabled trust to form and the opportunity How to cite this article:

Testing the combination of Feeling Safe and peer counselling against formulation-based cognitive behaviour therapy to promote psychological wellbeing in people with persecutory delusions: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (the Feeling Safe-NL Trial)

“…The overarching goals are to feel safer, happier, and get people back to doing what they want to do. These goals and the overall program were positively evaluated by patients [ 16 ] and resulted in large effect size improvements in persecutory beliefs and wider benefits including improvements in mental wellbeing and participation in day-to-day activities [ 5 ].…”

How Does Individual Psychotherapy Promote Recovery for Persons with Psychosis? A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies to Understand the Patient’s Experience

“…There were N = 33 studies that met inclusion criteria presented in Table 1 [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. Publication years ranged from 2003–2023.…”

“…Two studies focused on hearing voices, including Talking with Voices [ 53 ], Making Sense of Voices [ 58 ], and Relating Therapy [ 50 ]. Other studies tested newer approaches including interventions the Feeling Safe Program [ 35 ], Social Recovery Therapy [ 44 ], and Low-Intensity Psychological Therapy [ 63 ]. One study included participants who engaged in differing psychotherapy modalities [ 34 ].…”

“…The majority of studies included a cohesive sample of persons with psychosis, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 38 , 40 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ]. There were twelve studies which included a broader population of serious mental illness that included additional diagnoses (e.g., depression with psychotic features or post-traumatic stress disorder) along with psychosis [ 31 , 39 , 41 , 42 , 46 , 47 , 55 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 62 ].…”

“…One study included individuals with clinical high risk in addition to the individuals with early psychosis that fit inclusion criteria, thus it was included in the analysis [ 37 ]. The majority of studies were conducted in the United Kingdom [ 31 , 33 , 35 , 38 , 39 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 56 , 60 , 63 ], followed by Australia [ 32 , 42 , 61 , 62 ], the United States [ 36 , 47 , 52 , 54 ], The Netherlands [ 37 , 40 , 55 ], Norway [ 34 , 59 ], Germany [ 58 ], New Zealand [ 41 ], and South Africa [ 57 ]. The number of study participants ranged from four to twenty-five.…”