Put simply, psychoeducation is about educating others on their mental health illness. Thus, the main goal of psychoeducation is to help individuals be able to better understand their mental health conditions. It allows them to become accustomed to living with such a condition that is new to them. This happens by educating and informing people who are seeking or already receiving help related to their mental health. It is a structured intervention that helps people understand their illness, and its treatment, while also integrating the emotional aspect of it to allow them to cope with the illness. This is why it is an essential aspect of therapy.
Learning about Your Diagnosis
When people receive a diagnosis, they feel that they need to learn everything they can about their diagnosis. Therefore, by being well knowledgeable about their mental health illness, they are better able to understand the challenges it will give them, how to better cope with it, to identify their internal and external support, and even their strengths and weaknesses. As well as this, it will help individuals to learn that they are not alone. Other individuals have been exactly where that person is right now; receiving the news for the first time, learning about it, and coping with it and its treatment.
Through psychoeducation, clients and their relatives are more able to understand what they are about to go through and commit to long-term treatment. In fact, a randomized study, carried out by Pitschel-Walz., et al. (2006) found that clients suffering from Schizophrenia in Munich, who were psychoeducated, dropped the rehospitalization rate from 58% to 41%. This showed that the psychoeducation they received helped them maintain their treatment program.
Who provides Psychoeducation?
In addition to this, there are a number of professionals who are able to provide psychoeducation to people in need. These professionals include therapists, psychiatrists, support workers, or people specialized in psychoeducation. Thus, by seeking out any of these professionals, you can benefit by learning more about your condition. An example of its benefits is that if you have been diagnosed with anxiety, and decide to seek therapy, your therapist can use psychoeducation to help you learn better about anxiety and how to cope with it more. If then, for example, you would like your partner or parents to better understand what you are going through, they too can benefit from psychoeducation. It can help them to understand what triggers you, how to handle your situation, and be more supportive.
In conclusion, psychoeducation can be an important element to help you grow and even thrive with your condition. It can also be the first step that you need to start to understand, accept, treat, and cope with your mental illness. By learning about it, you can also learn how to live with it.
If you think that you can benefit from professional support on this issue you can reach out here.
Mandy Brincat is a Gestalt psychotherapist who enjoys working therapeutically with adults on various issues, such as general mental health and wellbeing. She also has experience working with children with anxiety and day to day stressful problems.
References:
- Drake, W. (2022). What Is Psychoeducation And Why Does It Matter? | BetterHelp. Betterhelp.com. Retrieved from https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/therapy/what-is-psychoeducation-and-why-does-it-matter/.
- Pitschel-Walz, G, Bäuml, J, Bender, W, Engel, RR, Wagner, M, Kissling, W. Psychoeducation and compliance in the treatment of schizophrenia: results of the Munich Psychosis Information Project study. J Clin Psychiatry 2006. ;67443–452.
- Psychoeducation – GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. GoodTherapy.org Therapy Blog. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/psychpedia/psychoeducation.