needs to do to deal with challenging patients. Be persistent, as good therapeutic alliances can form even six months after the beginning of treatment; keeping patient load for staff fairly low so as to allow staff to not get overworked and frustrated; finding at least one aspect of the patient which can be viewed positively; and, finally, staff should work together and take time to vent anger or frustration. An additional aspect of keeping staff from disliking certain patients is training in attributing blame for disliked behavior to the illness rather than the patient.So far the treatments I have spoken of deal with non-drug treatments of schizophrenia that are used in conjunction with medication, but what happens when a patient is resistant to the antipsychotic which they are prescribed?Besides altering the dose and trying an atypical antipsychotic such as clozapine, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been found to be a useful treatment. A response to ECT is more likely if there are affective symptoms. Unilateral electrodes over the non-dominant hemisphere seem to be as effective as bilateral placement (Jalenques, 1996). While many kinds of therapy can be useful, the most helpful seem to be: body awareness therapy, communication-oriented group therapy, family therapy, hospital-based social skills training, cognitive behavioral therapy, and vocational rehabilitation.Body awareness therapy and communication-oriented therapy are both aimed at increasing the patient’s communication skills. Hospital-based social skills training focuses on improving the patient’s ability to survive and function on his or her own. Vocational rehabilitation attempts to help the patient organize his or her external structure. Cognitive behavior therapy alleviates psychotic symptoms (Jalenques, 1996).Cognitive behavior therapy seems to be the most effective non-drug option. In a study of patients treated with it compared to patients who received su...
