ABSTRACT
The chapter gives an overview of the book's findings and ideas concerning abuse and psychosis, and considers the implications for therapy. Approaches that have been tried in working with psychosis and trauma are reviewed. Many approaches have tended to focus on ‘exposure’ to memories of trauma. This, however, is difficult for clients. Next, therapies for non-psychotic clients are described which aim to work with states of the self (schema therapy, internal family systems, and trauma-informed therapy) and also some recent therapies that work with trauma, psychosis, and the self. It is proposed that a modification of schema therapy combined with selected therapies aimed at working with states of the self can be used for psychosis and trauma. Some modifications and guidelines are discussed for working with these areas, in particular, that there needs to be a focus on the here and now and to only make links to the past if and when a client is stable and wishes to do this. How one can actually begin to explore with a client states of the self is outlined and a case conceptualisation presented.
