ABSTRACT
The onset of psychosis, for some, can be a devastating and harrowing event in the life of a young person and their family. For others it may emerge as a more positive experience, an opportunity to ‘take stock’, learn lessons and rebuild. In this chapter we will argue that there is no simple cause and effect relationship between psychosis and trauma. Instead we will put the case for a model, which puts at its heart the role of mediating variables: cognitive appraisals and coping style. We will also argue that the relationship between early trauma (sexual, physical, emotional abuse) and the first episode of psychosis is again not a simple one but one that is influenced by a complex array of interacting psychobiosocial factors including emotional dysfunction which arises as a result of disruption to a person’s developmental trajectory (Birchwood 2003). Lastly we will argue that a new approach is needed to the assessment and treatment of trauma in people experiencing psychosis for the first time: one which questions current psychiatric conceptualisations of the link between psychosis, PTSD and co-morbidity and tests out newly developed and adapted psychological interventions for PTSD and trauma.
