The term psychoeducation comes from the American and is composed of the two terms “psychotherapy” and “education”. The English term “psychotherapy” is literally adopted into the German language, the word “education” is not translated as “education” in this context, but includes information, knowledge transfer and education.Psychoeducation includes systematic didactic-psychotherapeutic interventions that serve to inform patients and their relatives about the disease and its treatment, to promote the understanding of the disease and the self-responsible handling of the disease and to support them in coping with the disease. Overall, the aim is to offer help for self-help. (Bäuml J.& Pitschel-Walz, 2003). The term psychoeducation first appeared in the eighties of the last century. C. M. Anderson and his colleagues used the term psychoeducation in 1980 to describe a family intervention for schizophrenic patients. The aim of this intervention was to provide patients and their families with comprehensive information about the illness with the aim of reducing the relapse rate and thereby achieving an improvement in the course of the illness. In Germany at that time, so-called “information-centered” groups were found only in individual psychiatric institutions. Professionally run groups to guide patients and relatives did not develop until the end of the last century. The “German Society for Psychoeducation” was founded on November 14, 2006 under the direction of private lecturer Dr. Josef Bäuml. The aim of this society is the promotion and dissemination of psychoeducation in German-speaking countries. Every year, the society holds a congress on psychoeducation at various locations in Germany. The focus is still on mental illness, especially severe psychotic and schizophrenic disorders. In Germany, psychoeducation is mainly carried out by institutions, since physicians in private practice have too few resources available for this form of intervention.The main purpose of psychoeducation is to increase knowledge about the illness. The above definition of psychoeducation refers almost exclusively to mental illnesses, especially severe psychotic and schizophrenic disorders, and depressive illnesses. The principles of psychoeducation can be applied to all other diseases with mild changes. For example, training diabetics to cope with their illness in the broadest sense is also part of psychoeducation, because the principles and goals listed below apply here as well. Goals of psychoeducation:
- Shortening the duration of the disease
- Alleviation of symptoms
- Reduction in the frequency of relapse
- The most comprehensive information possible for patients and affected families about the disease, its course and cause, as well as treatment options.
- Promotion of compliance (cooperative behavior in the context of therapy).
- Promoting cooperation with the therapist
- Emotional relief for those affected and their families.
- Promoting the patient’s confidence and competence to cope with their own problems.
- Improving the social conditions of the sick person (stigmatization in mental disorders).
- Promoting confidence in dealing with the disease
Indications (areas of application)
All patients with mental illness are equally suitable for psychoeducation measures. However, the psychotic and schizophrenic clinical pictures are a particular challenge for therapists, because here very often the insight into the need for therapy at all and in the dynamics of the disease is missing.
The process
In the relevant professional societies, the question of whether psychoeducation is a separate form of therapy or a subfield of psychotherapy is controversial.Psychoeducation is given to patients with schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic episodic, and eating and personality disorders. Family members are equally included in the target group of psychoeducation.The essential goal of these training methods is to provide patients with a better understanding of their illness. This deeper understanding makes the necessary therapeutic measures more effective and efficient.By educating family members, a better understanding of the underlying abnormal behaviors within the family is achieved and acceptance of the patients and their health disorders is promoted, which in turn leads to faster healing. Both the patients themselves and their relatives can thus avoid relapses and significantly improve their quality of life.In terms of the definition of psychoeducation, various techniques and procedures from almost all areas of psychotherapy are used. At the beginning of a therapy, the main focus is on providing information about the disease and about therapy options. During interventions, care is taken to balance theory about the illness with the patient’s subjective view.Cognitive* , psychomotor, and affective* * therapy sessions are used equally. * A person’s cognitive abilities include, for example, attention, memory, learning, planning, orientation, creativity, introspection, will, belief, and more. * * A behavior is called affective (synonym: emotional), which is predominantly determined by emotion and less by cognitive processes. Contents of psychoeducation
- Education about symptoms and course of the disease
- Discussion of the diagnosis, identification of the causes of the disease.
- Discussion of treatment options (drug treatment, psychosocial treatment, psychotherapy).
- Warning sign recognition of impending exacerbation of the disease.
- Planning crisis intervention when deterioration occurs.
- Training of relatives in dealing with the disease
Psychoeducation interventions can be conducted in individual sessions with patients and family members as well as in a group session. A curriculum of eight sessions is usually recommended (Wolfisberg, 2009):
- Welcome and explanation of the program.
- Explanation of disease terms, symptomatology and diagnostics.
- Explanation of the relationship between neurobiology and psyche.
- Introduction to stress management programs
- Drug therapy and side effects
- Psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions
- Relapse prophylaxis (measures designed to prevent the recurrence of a disease after healing), crisis plan.
- Outlook into the future