Cognitive Interventions

Cognitive Interventions

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a method that is becoming popular for dealing with emotions and thoughts that are negative and are linked “… to the formation, expression and maintenance of verbal auditory hallucinations” (England, 2006, pg. 735). Persons who suffers from verbal auditory hallucinations are thought to be schizophrenic. Some of the causes of this habit are caused by stress, depression, low self-esteem and an over active brain. There are two set of voice hearers; one set are inclined to hear only negative things such as you are nothing or worthless, and this may cause the person hearing these voices to become withdrawn, they may act up, feel guilty, helpless and shameful, it can also cause them to hallucinate visually. The next set, only hear positive voices, this may happen because they are bored and lonely, they need some kind of relief or entertainment, the may have little or no common sense or just a poor judge of people. They may have difficulty dealing with day-to-day activities. The voices heard by the hearers will help them to make decisions, give advice, threaten, reassure, provoke or discuss. To voice hearers the voices they hear are separate entities that are real to them.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a method used to deal with voice hearers. This treatment is based on the notion that the voice hearers see the world different, which is influenced by the voices they hear. To use this method effectively the clinician need to determine the ultimate goal, analyze the person to be treated, select interventions, and find way to make them work. A clinician can communicate with a voice hearer by making them read aloud, say how they feel, help them to find the cause of their problems, make comparisons with other persons in similar situation. Counseling them and allowing them to vocalize what goes on inside their heads and their past. Doing this over a period it time can help