ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on ways early intervention for psychosis (EIP) can specifically promote personal recovery and facilitate the processes of psychological adaptation, rather than it simply being a ‘side effect’ of interventions targeting symptomatic and social recovery. The concept of psychological adaptation may capture the process of assimilating the potentially ‘catastrophic effects’ that a first episode of psychosis (FEP) can have on them, such as loss, decreased acceptance by others, shame, humiliation, exclusion, subordination and lowered self-esteem. ‘Acceptance’ following psychosis has been described as a process of ‘integrating the experience of psychosis into self-identity’. This is complex and involves a variety of interacting factors, including the person’s experience of psychosis itself and the social consequences that follow FEP. Resilience has been defined as ‘the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, threats or significant sources of stress’. Despite its application in other areas of mental health, resilience has been less well studied in psychosis.
