Psychotic Disorders

People with psychotic disorders can be particularly fragile and experience difficulty relating to the world around them, withdrawing from social environments and experiencing alienation from family and friends. Some of the most devastating effects can include loss of the capacity for pleasure and joy, an inability to logically communicate with others, and cognitive impairment in normally bright individuals. It can be a distressing experience for everyone involved, and family support can be crucial for successful outcomes.

If you are living with psychotic disorders such as schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, Bridges to Recovery provides an environment of total support. Our home-like licensed residential facilities act as a safe haven, with a clinical team that provides compassionate, medically appropriate care using the most effective treatment modalities to meet your unique treatment needs.

Through a personalized mix of medication, psychotherapy, group support, holistic therapies, and family involvement, we strive to restore functioning and allow you to return to your life with new skills and insights to manage your disorder. Early treatment translates to higher remission rates, so it is advisable to seek intensive therapy as soon as possible for the best chance of lasting wellness. However, it is never too late to seek help.

At Bridges to Recovery, we offer residential treatment for schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, and their related conditions. Select the disorder of interest below to learn more about our approach to treatment:

• Schizoaffective Disorder. A condition that is characterized by symptoms of schizophrenia, which are psychotic symptoms, along with episodes and symptoms of bipolar disorder or major depression.
• Schizophrenia. A severe mental health condition that causes a person to lose touch with reality, hallucinate, experience delusions, have disordered thoughts, and have difficulty communicating.

Antipsychotic medications are often successfully used to treat psychotic disorders. Additional medications such as antidepressants and mood stabilizers may also be used to address your specific symptom. After a thorough evaluation, our psychiatrists make medication recommendations taking your entire history into account.

The residential setting at Bridges to Recovery allows our clinicians to carefully monitor you on a daily basis to evaluate the efficacy of each medication, enabling you to quickly report responses and side-effects. Working with the philosophy that medication should provide relief and improve your life, we emphasize medication protocols that are well-tolerated and contribute to overall well-being.

There is strong evidence that psychotherapy can have remarkable effects on psychotic disorders and improve the prognosis, even if your symptoms are primarily controlled by medication. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) offers practical tools for identifying and managing symptoms and developing healthy responses to stressors. You will learn reality testing techniques to determine whether what you are experiencing or perceiving is real or imagined, creating greater self-awareness and an increased sense of control over the disorder.

Normalization techniques recast the symptoms of psychotic disorders as occurring within the spectrum of normal human experiences, helping you to break the isolation and stigma that plague many people living with psychotic disorders, while moving you away from catastrophic thinking. Some clients also benefit from therapy that promotes social skill development to ease reintegration with the social world and help relationship formation. Ultimately these techniques serve to increase your confidence, flexibility, and independence while decreasing the risk and severity of recurrence.

Our clinicians also use psychodynamic therapy to support you in gaining insight and relief by talking through feelings about your illness and its effect on your life. This interpersonal therapeutic modality can be particularly valuable if you struggle with self-expression, as it provides a structured, supportive milieu for one-on-one emotive communication. Psychodynamic therapy can help you improve emotional processing and self-understanding.

Psychotic disorders impact families in difficult and unique ways. Whether the family is acting as caregivers or you are able to function independently, support by loved ones is often an essential component to treatment. Research shows us that an involved family improves both compliance and outcomes, even if interpersonal conflict exists. At Bridges to Recovery, we invite families to participate in therapy with their loved one to express feelings, resolve conflict, and learn how to best help you in a supportive environment. Family therapy can also be a great place to lay the foundation for aftercare support to ease the transition back to life after residential treatment.

Participating in our group support sessions can help people with psychotic disorders engage socially while developing and practicing social skills. These non-judgmental, collaborative groups can be healing spaces in which you learn from other clients and feel part of a community.

Our holistic and creative therapies present opportunities to address psychotic disorder symptoms in novel ways. Because some clients struggle with organized thought and verbal expression, non-verbal treatment modalities can offer new pathways to articulation and insight. Art therapy and meditative drumming give you the tools and guidance to express yourself through creative activities, free from the limits of language.

If you or your loved one is suffering from a psychotic disorder, we encourage you to contact us for more information about how our treatment program can help. Effective management of symptoms is achievable for many, and we are committed to supporting our clients in attaining the best possible outcomes.

At Bridges to Recovery, we specialize in diagnosing and treating mental health issues such as psychotic disorders and their co-occurring disorders. We provide compassionate and effective care in a serene residential setting so clients can focus on their treatment and recovery without the worries of external pressures and stressors.

• Private residential accommodations. Exclusive residential homes with a maximum of six clients. A private alternative to a more traditional hospital environment.
• World-class clinical staff. Expert clinical team provides individual therapy using proven evidence-based treatment modalities to treat complicated disorders.
• Individualized treatment plans. Truly individualized treatment plans that offers profound healing and strategies for overcoming the toughest obstacles.
• Health and wellness focused. Healthy, gourmet meals, and yoga, meditation, acupuncture, massage, and physical fitness classes.

Our Treatment Program

Please contact us for more information about how Bridges to Recovery can help you or your loved one.