Resources You Can Access Now
Psychosis is different for every person, and only the person experiencing it is the expert in their own experiences. Similarly, important people in their life, such as family, partners, or friends, may bring their own expertise based on lived experience in how best to support their loved one.
While evidence-based treatments with a trained mental health professional can be very helpful for people who experience distress from their symptoms of psychosis, a lot of research has recently focused on tapping into the power that someone experiencing psychosis and the important people in their life have in shaping recovery. Below you’ll find a list of resources based on this research:
Resources for Caregivers, Loved Ones, and Other Supports
If someone in your life has experienced psychosis, the following resources may help you in understanding their experiences, in supporting them, or in improving your communication with them:
- Psychosis REACH is a training that teaches families to use evidence-based skills rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for psychosis to better communicate with their loved one. You can learn more about psychosis REACH (including when future trainings will be held) here.
- Demystifying Psychosis: For Family Members is a distance education course designed for family members of an individual who is experiencing a first episode of psychosis. It provides information on how family members become aware that their loved one is experiencing symptoms of psychosis, their reactions and strategies for helping, and the services that should be included in an effective program to address the family’s needs.
- Cómo Motivar a las Personas Buscar Ayuda en Casos de Psicosis de Inicio Temprano (Encouraging People to Seek Help)-Fact Sheet
- Explore the key issues related to caring for a relative with psychosis or schizophrenia, with this short, free online course offered through King’s College London
- Our colleagues at the University of California San Francisco and the California and the Mental Health Association of San Francisco have generated this Psychosis First Aid Guide for Loved Ones.
- For help in communicating with a loved one experiencing psychosis, the following books may help:
- Turkington et al. Back to Life, Back to Normality: Volume 1
- Turkington & Spencer, Back to Life, Back to Normality: Volume 2
- Amador, X. (2011) I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone with Mental Illness Accept Treatment. Vida Press; 10th Anniversary Edition.
- Mueser, KT & Gingerich S. The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia. 2006. The Guilford Press.
- Dr. Kate Hardy presented a 1-hour webinar on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for psychosis geared toward family members and loved ones as part of the National Alliance on Mental Illness “Ask the Expert” series on March 22, 2019. Click HERE to watch the webinar.
- What Schizophrenia Does to Families — Click here to read one family’s story of caring for their son who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early 20s.
- COVID-19 resources for families and caregivers of a loved one with psychosis
- If your loved one is newly experiencing psychosis, a specialized list of resources and treatment options are available here.
Resources for Individuals Who Experience Psychosis
If you have experienced or are currently experiencing psychosis, there are a number of resources listed below that may help provide education, teach useful skills for managing any distressing experiences, and connect you with larger networks of people who have also experienced psychosis:
- National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Your Life Your Voice
- Understanding Voices
- COVID-19 resources for persons experiencing psychosis
- Intervoice
- Hearing Voices Network: USA
- Paranoid Thoughts
- “Voices of Recovery,” Center for Practice Innovations
- The Stability Network
- My Story of Strength video series
- Sometimes I’m Schizoaffective; All of the time I’m Human
- You can find additional resources including a selection of books focusing on psychosis here.
Accessing Care in the US: What You Need to Know
The following resources can be used to understand what you need to access care in the US.