A Delphi survey to explore best practice for practitioners offering family intervention for psychosis to families with children

Parents experiencing psychosis can face challenges in addition to those usually associated with being a parent, with their children at increased risk of negative outcomes. Although a strong evidence base has shown that family interventions for psychosis (FIp) can mitigate distress for adult relatives, techniques described in the systemic and parenting literature to facilitate the inclusion of children in family therapy are largely absent from the FIp literature and training. This study used a three-round Delphi survey to investigate what experienced FIp clinicians consider to be best practice regarding the inclusion of children in parental FIp. Findings demonstrated support for including children, with high levels of consensus regarding methods of facilitating their involvement, as well as organisational factors that would support this. The results have important clinical implications given that many FIp practitioners work with families, following brief psychosis specific training, without exposure to the broader literature.