An interesting article published in The Psychologist (vol 27 no 4) by JS, explains how cognitive therapy could potentially become an alternative to antipsychotic drugs. The ‘pioneering’ study has been led by Professor Anthony Morrison from the University of Manchester’s School of Psychological Sciences.

The researches concluded that cognitive therapy ‘seems to be a safe and acceptable alternative for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders who have chosen not to take antipsychotic drugs. Evidence-based treatments should be available to these individuals’.

The article also recognises the need for further research as it is a relatively small study which did not include a placebo treatment.

In 2010, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) carried out some research to find out more about people’s attitudes towards counselling and psychotherapy.

Some of the key findings included:

• 95% thought that it’s a good idea to seek counselling or psychotherapy for a problem before it gets out of hand
• 91% thought that it was more acceptable to talk about emotional problems than it was in the past
• 88% thought that people might be happier if they talked to a counsellor or psychotherapist about their problems

Read more about the key findings of the BACP’s research (PDF, 906kb).