Psychotherapy on an Acute Psychiatric Ward: Preliminary Findings From a Controlled Study.

This study investigated the efficacy of psychotherapy during hospitalization on an acute psychiatric ward. A controlled trial was conducted to assess the effects of Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) upon metacognition and psychiatric symptoms. Data from 40 inpatient women were analysed. Findings included significant interaction effects between group (intervention or control group) and time (preintervention and postintervention) in regard to the metacognitive abilities and general psychiatric symptoms. Participating in MERIT seems to improve one's ability to use reflective knowledge to cope with psychological challenges and to improve symptomatology level.

Metacognitive reflection and insight therapy in an inpatient setting: Transforming messianism to a coherent mission.

Metacognitive reflection and insight therapy (MERIT) is an integrative form of psychotherapy which seeks to help adults with serious mental illness make sense of the psychosocial challenges and possibilities they face and decide how to respond to them and direct their own recovery. In this article, we present an adaptation of MERIT to the context of an inpatient ward with an accompanied case illustration. Specifically, we describe how this approach is supported by a broad intersubjective framework, followed by a presentation of processes and contents of the treatment. Special attention is given to the concurrent improvements in reflective abilities and overall well-being of the patient. The unique role that psychotherapy in general, and approaches that emphasize reflective processes in particular, play during acute crises in an inpatient setting is discussed.

Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Psychotherapy in an Inpatient Setting: Examining the Moderating Role of Diagnosis and Therapeutic Approach.

OBJECTIVE: The current meta-analysis investigates the efficacy of psychotherapy during psychiatric hospitalization and examines the moderating role of diagnosis and therapeutic approach. METHODS: We conducted systematic searches in literature databases, including PubMed, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar. In total, 37 samples were included for the meta-analysis with a total of 4,443 patients. The primary outcome was the standardized mean differences in clinical status measured by symptomatic and functional measures. RESULTS: The meta-analysis of 22 samples without a control group resulted in the upper end of the medium effect size for the overall effect of treatment during psychiatric hospitalization that included psychotherapy (k = 22, Cohen's d = 0.70, and 95% Cl 0.36 to 1.04). The meta-analysis of 15 samples with a control group resulted in the upper end of the low effect size for the contribution of psychotherapy to the improvement of patients' clinical status measured by symptomatic and functional measures (k = 15, Cohen's d = 0.43, and 95% CI 0.06 to 0.81). No significant effects were uncovered for psychotherapy orientation. Diagnosis was found to moderate the contribution of psychotherapy in an inpatient setting to the improvement of patients' clinical condition. CONCLUSION: Psychotherapy during psychiatric hospitalization may be an effective treatment. Across the various samples, psychotherapy has a moderate effect on the reduction of psychiatric symptoms beyond the overall effect of ward treatment.