will take place on Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 from 16:00 to 17:00 hours in the CBBM Building, Ground Floor, Seminar Room Levi-Montalcini.
Host: Prof. Stefan Borgwardt
Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
Abstract: Hallucinatory experiences such as hearing voices are experienced in a range of clinical populations, most notably in schizophrenia spectrum disorders, as well as mood and trauma-related disorders. Self-management and psychological interventions are widely recommended in practice guidelines as an adjunct to antipsychotic medication to reduce the impact of hallucinations, and are viewed positively by patient groups. In this presentation, we will consider the empirical status of psychological interventions for hallucinations and recent trials including mindfulness-based, trauma-focused and relational approaches. We will focus in particular on ways of integration of digital technology to augment the efficacy and/or accessibility of treatment, including our current Australia-wide trial of avatar-supported therapy vs current best practice treatment. We will also discuss ongoing research to develop guidelines for routine frontline mental health practice in interactions about hearing voices.
