The aim of the current paper is to describe the tailoring of cognitive-behavioural treatment for a female client who developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subsequent to awareness under anaesthetic during an emergency caesarean procedure. Treatment consisted of prolonged and in vivo exposure, and cognitive restructuring over eight sessions. Assessment was conducted prior to treatment, immediately after treatment, and at 6- and 24-month follow-up. Follow-up at 24 months demonstrated good outcome, with the client no longer meeting criteria for PTSD.

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) treatments have been developed and validated with respect to specific diagnoses. In routine clinical practice diagnostic accuracy is poor, making for poorly targeted treatment. The problems posed by lack of diagnostic rigour, including non-detection of co-morbidity, are rarely the subject of supervision sessions and treatment failures may be inappropriately attributed to other factors such as lack of therapeutic skill or an unmotivated client. It is argued that a false dichotomy exists between diagnosis and case formulation fuelled by professional territorial disputes. We suggest that diagnosis acts as a lens, focusing attention on the range of cognitions salient to a case formulation and also highlights psychosocial and environmental factors that may affect treatment outcome. It is recommended that practitioners enhance their effectiveness by using structured interviews routinely as a part of their ongoing assessment of clients.

Beliefs about auditory hallucinations have been found to influence voice hearers' behavioural and emotional reactions to the hallucinations. It is currently unknown however, how these beliefs change over time in the absence of psychological intervention or if they remain stable, and how such changes may be related to changes in other symptoms. This study aimed to expand on previous research by exploring the beliefs of voice hearers concerning the malevolence or benevolence of voices in a longitudinal design. Forty-six individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia were assessed with the PANSS, the HAD, and an interview exploring hallucinatory experiences and beliefs about hallucinations over a period of 6 months. General psychopathology and the severity and frequency of hallucinations were found to improve. Voice hearers' beliefs about their voices, however, remained stable. Beliefs do not appear to change without a specific intervention aimed at them and may indeed serve as vulnerability factors. These findings can be interpreted to imply that psychological interventions aimed at modifying such beliefs, such as CBT, might be a necessary component of the treatment of auditory hallucinations.

Food neophobia is a specific phobia of trying new foods. Its treatment in adults has been rarely described. The only paper that related a therapeutic intervention for food neophobia in adults reported a time-consuming effort for both clients and several staff involved. This paper provides a case example of using solution focused brief therapy questioning techniques to facilitate the process of change in a young adult with this diagnosis. It aims to explain how solution focused techniques can be used and in what way those techniques differ from more traditional cognitive-behavioural therapy approaches.

The aim of the current study was to examine how belief in the validity of hallucinations relates to the association between hallucination frequency and associated distress. In a sample of inpatients with psychotic symptoms, results demonstrated that hallucination believability predicted later distress after controlling for symptom frequency. In addition, results were consistent with the hypothesis that hallucination believability mediated the frequency- distress link. Recent randomized controlled trials have supported the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy for schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Further evidence suggests that cognitive behavioral approaches that incorporate mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies may be effective in reducing the believability of positive symptoms. Future trials incorporating longitudinal designs and more detailed assessments of these variables are needed.

This short case series aimed to explore whether and how an intervention with a cognitive component changed parental attributions about child behaviour and parents' reports of their own behaviour. The results suggest change in parental attributions, coded using the Leeds Attributional Coding System (LACS), was associated with Problem score changes on the Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory (ECBI). Changes in parents' reports of their own behaviour were associated with Intensity score changes on the ECBI. However, the changes were in both positive and negative directions. The results call for more understanding of the mechanisms involved in change in parental attributions.

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy is an international multidisciplinary journal for the publication of original research, of an experimental or clinical nature, that contributes to the theory, practice and evaluation of behaviour therapy. As such, the scope of the journal is very broad and articles relevant to most areas of human behaviour and human experience, which would be of interest to members of the helping and teaching professions, will be considered for publication.