Introduction: Psychological trauma is an established risk factor for psychosis. Trauma-focused psychotherapies (TFPT) have been suggested as a potential treatment for reducing psychotic symptoms in those who have experienced trauma. We therefore sought to investigate the effectiveness, tolerability, and acceptability of TFPT for psychotic symptoms.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies of any form of TFPT that measured psychotic symptoms across a broad range of diagnoses.
Results: From 2584 papers initially identified, 17 studies (857 participants) met eligibility criteria. TFPT were found to be well tolerated, with very few adverse events. Acceptability was also high, with a mean dropout rate of 20%.
Conclusions: Whilst the evidence of effectiveness for TFPT in reducing psychotic symptoms is weak, we found tentative evidence in favour of exposure-based interventions. Methodologically rigorous trials investigating the efficacy of TFPT for the treatment of psychotic symptoms are needed to assess this promising intervention.
Keywords: PTSD; psychosis; psychotherapy; schizophrenia; trauma.
© 2024 The Authors. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.