Adolescents at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

This is the first treatment manuals combining a treatment programme with a smartphone app, developed specifically for adolescents at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis. In an effort to prevent schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders, research has increasingly focused on identifying individuals in the CHR state at an early stage in order to treat CHR symptoms promptly. These symptoms typically emerge during adolescence and young adulthood — a particularly sensitive developmental stage — and are often accompanied by significant functional impairment. Despite the potential benefits of specialised interventions for young people exhibiting CHR symptoms, there is still a lack of evidence-based treatment programmes designed for this vulnerable patient group. This book presents an integrated psychotherapeutic programme for adolescents at CHR for psychosis. The programme combines individual therapy with a smartphone app to support patients between sessions. The therapeutic modules target CHR symptoms and common comorbidities and focus on improving quality of life, self-efficacy, and daily functioning. The treatment is based on treatment strategies used with CHR adults and for adolescents with first episodes of psychosis. The modules follow the guidance of the European Association for Psychiatry on early intervention in CHR states of psychosis. The therapy programme Robin takes a comprehensive and integrative approach, combining evidence-based techniques from cognitive behavioural therapy, solution-focused therapy and systemic psychotherapy. Its modular structure enables it to be tailored to the individual needs of each patient, providing a highly personalised therapeutic process.   With a foreword by Patrick McGorry, Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, a global expert in this field, best known for pioneering early intervention for psychosis and for establishing Australia’s Headspace youth mental health services.