HOPE TEAM - Clinical High Risk Group CBSST

Community-based treatments for adolescents at risk for psychosis are not widely available, nor are there established, gold-standard psychosocial group interventions for this population. The HOPE TEAM, Helping Overcome Prodromal Experiences through Treatment and Evaluation of Adolescent Minds (PI: Bachman; funded by The Pittsburgh Foundation) is an early detection and intervention program for youth at clinical high risk for psychosis which aims to help them by engaging existing community resources, providing assessment, and offering trauma-informed psychotherapy. Embedded within the Family Care Connection Center at Turtle Creek, the HOPE TEAM offers individual psychotherapy as part of its clinical service model. The present study seeks to evaluate, in a small and preliminary sample (n = 20), the feasibility and effectiveness of a 24-week Cognitive-Behavioral Social Skills Therapy (CBSST) group intervention for CHR adolescents who are part of the HOPE TEAM. To that end, the current proposal will seek to conduct brief research assessments to assess the group members' perceptions of the group's utility, as well as their current clinical symptoms and functioning prior to, during, and after participating in this group. The goals of this pilot project are to 1) identify which aspects of the group perceived to be most and least helpful by participating adolescents, and 2) evaluate whether participation in the group meaningfully improves participants' clinical symptoms and functioning. The investigators aim to use these pilot data to guide future selection of treatment targets in this clinical practice, and to identify future strategies for increasing satisfaction and retention in community-based group interventions for CHR adolescents.