From Environment to Therapy in Psychosis: A Real-World Momentary Assessment Approach

The current article discusses how momentary assessment may fundamentally contribute to identifying environmental risk factors and symptom patterns, as well as provide new opportunities for treatment. A new prototype device, the "PsyMate," was specifically developed to implement momentary assessment in clinical practice. It was shown that self-monitoring of both positive and negative psychotic symptoms (a) is feasible, (b) provides a much more detailed and fine-grained picture of symptoms, and (c) reveals patterns of behavior that may be relevant for treatment. Furthermore, the PsyMate could be instrumental for real-time and real-world delivery of psychological interventions. With PsyMate, patients can become active partners in the therapeutic process, resulting in greater patient ownership and empowerment as well as understanding of their symptoms and the environment.