Description
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Webinar Description:
Auditory verbal hallucinations (‘voices’) are a common and often persistent distressing symptom of psychosis, being experienced by more than 70% of people suffering from these conditions. They are also often resistant to treatment with only a quarter of patients having a good response to antipsychotics even when given in combination with psychotherapy. AVATAR therapy is new and strikingly beneficial treatment for these voices. The basic approach was invented by Professor Julian Leff some 10 years ago with subsequent research and development led by Professor Thomas Craig and Professor Philippa Garety at King’s College London.
The approach enables the patient to create a digital representation of their most dominant voice (the ‘avatar’) and to conduct a dialogue with this avatar, assisted and supported by the therapist. The experience is akin to a virtual conversation not unlike what we will be engaged in during this webinar. The researchers have shown, though two robust clinical trials that the approach is highly effective in reducing the frequency and distress associated with voices, even stopping the distressing voices altogether in a small number of patients. It is hoped that this treatment can be rolled out in routine mental health services in the UK.
