"Held up against each other" : a qualitative grounded theory investigation into families' experiences of receiving behavioural family therapy for psychosis

• Main Author: Galis, Alina
• Published: University of Edinburgh 2008
• Subjects: 155
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.651191

Despite a wealth of research on clinical outcomes in BFT showing reduced relapse and hospitalisation rates, very little is known about families’ lived experience of receiving it. To date there has been only one phenomenological investigation (Campbell, 2004) into families’ subjective experiences. She reported that families receiving BFT experienced reductions in the levels of stress and carer burden within the family, enhanced communication skills and a positive sense of empowerment. The present study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the experience and processes involved in Behavioural Family Therapy from the perspective of individuals who have received it. A qualitative approach, using constructivist grounded theory, was used to analyse the experiences of 15 individuals from 5 families. Five core categories emerged: conflict management, changing impact of illness, family togetherness, therapeutic alliance and positive experience. With reference to literature on the impact of psychosis on families, three inferential results are presented, concerning shared experiences within the family unit, perceived outcome and processes within BFT and a hypothesised model of the mechanisms involved in BFT.