Schizophrenia: Talking therapies 'effective as drugs'

When I was psychotic I just can’t believed talking it out would have made my psychosis go away. And I’ve had CBT and I have the same experience as andypr. A visit to my therapist and psychiatrist is safe and relaxing. And the drive home is smooth. But by the time I get in my apartment complex and park my car nothing has changed. Same paranoia, hostility, faulty perceptions etc…See, that’s why Soteria House didn’t revolutionize the psychiatric world. Their premise was that they could have the same results as hospitals and medication with treating schizophrenia by putting a bunch of schizophrenics in a house in the middle of a neighborhood and having counselors their 24-7. And part of their model was that none of the counselors had any psychiatric experience or training dealing with the mentally ill. I lived their a year at my most psychotic. There was almost no rules and no responsibility. We didn’t have to clean ourselves or the house. We could come and go as we pleased.You didn’t even have to tell them if you were going to spend the night somewhere else though they appreciated the courtesy if you did. The use of drugs,alcohol, and violence were strongly disapproved of but not strictly enforced. Boy did I suffer there. It did no good for me. It just delayed my recovery by a year.

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Oh wow I’m sorry you had such a bad experience Nick. I never really experienced the sort of alternative stuff but I am trying to figure things out. The medication has started to affect me too much, or I feel overmedicated.

I would like to try good talking therapy, however, where can you find a good therapist who accepts Medicaid?