Group cognitive behavioural therapy for schizophrenia: a systematic review of the literature

There are a growing number of studies which have evaluated group-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBGT) for individuals with psychosis. This is at least partly driven by the need to maximize access to this evidence-based treatment which has still to be widely disseminated. In this paper we present a systematic review of trials which have evaluated the efficacy CBGT. Five controlled trials were identified, the results showed some improvements in specific areas of symptomatology such as social phobia and depression. However, methodological weaknesses of the studies compromised the confidence with which a cause and effect relationship can be established. CBGT may enable a greater number of individuals to be seen by a small group of trained therapists but whether this is an effective treatment remains to be established. In addition, whether therapists delivering cognitive behavioural therapy in a group format require a higher level of skill than those facilitating the intervention on an individual basis remains an empirical question. The finding that a short psycho-education group treatment reduced positive and negative symptoms is also worthy of further investigation given the difficulties reported in disseminating evidence-based psychosocial interventions for this client group.