Experimental group intervention
cyclesCompassion, personalityStimulating self-reflectivity
DETACHMENT
The patients allocated to the EG attended a specifically designed intervention (see Table Outline of Evolutionary Systems Therapy for SchizotypySocial safeness and social cognitionOddity and detachment from an evolutionary viewpointStimulating autobiographical memoryExploring therapeutic relationshipGroundingSoothing breathEarly maladaptive schemasTemperament and personalityStimulating self-reflectivity and decenteringFunctional analysis of self-criticismRealities of life meditationCompassionate self or imageInterpersonal schemas and cyclesCompassion and prosocialityStimulating awareness of the otherMetacommunicationCompassionate imagery with rescriptingCompassionate chairworkPsychosocial adaptationError friendlinessStimulating masteryReflecting on changesIndividualized techniquesClient’s workbook of practicesExperimental treatment—namely, Evolutionary Systems Therapy for Schizotypy—comprises four phases, partially overlapping each other. Each phase ranges between 4 to 8 sessions. Goals and psychoeducation were defined in accordance with the proposed integrative intervention and evolutionary framework. Narrative and experiential techniques were primarily derived from Metacognitively Oriented Psychotherapies and Compassion Focused Therapy, respectively. The contents of the four phases are indicative of priority elements of the interventions that can also interact between each other. For example, a technique from a later phase can be used in a previous one, and vice versaAccording to this view, ESTS aims at promoting metacognition [As previously summarized, ESTS directly refers to an evolutionary perspective that is consistent with evidence suggesting how schizotypy emerged with the rise of our complex social brain [During the early phases of the intervention the therapist shares a specific evolutionary conceptualization of SPD [