The Sussex Psychosis Research Interest Group (SPRiG) incorporates clinical and academic researchers within the University of Sussex, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
Current research includes the contribution of genetics, neuroimaging, psychological processes, health and social contexts to psychosis and well-being outcomes; the development of new psychological therapies, including third wave CBT and computer-based therapies; understanding and addressing children’s and adolescents’ attitudes to psychosis, to promote positive non-stigmatising schema; and earlier engagement in help seeking.
We host SPRiG seminars throughout the year online. These seminars are always on the last Wednesday of the month at 4pm-5pm.
Next seminar
Wednesday 25 November 4pm-5pm
Speaker: Carmen Simonsen, Associate Professor, University of Oslo
Title: Helping people with psychosis handle self-stigma and disclosure decisions: a pilot randomised controlled trial of the Honest, Open, Proud group program in Norway.
Many people with psychosis experience stigma, which can lead to internalised stigma (self-stigma) and difficult decisions about whether to disclose their experiences. This talk presents Honest, Open, Proud (HOP), a program designed to help people manage self-stigma and disclosure. The aim is not to encourage disclosure, but to support strategic decisions about whether to disclose and, if so, to whom, when, and what to share. A central feature is that the groups are led by peer facilitators with lived experience, who serve as role models.
HOP was developed in the US as a group program for people with mental health problems more broadly and has since been adapted for psychosis in the UK as a one-to-one intervention. In the present study, we adapted HOP for people with psychosis and tested it as a group-based program in Norway. In a pilot randomised controlled trial, 40 participants were randomised to HOP or a waitlist control condition. This talk will focus on the feasibility and acceptability of the program.