Recommendations for Using the IRAP with a Medicated In-patient Population with a Diagnosis of Psychosis

The current professional interest brief aims to outline the feasibility of using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) in a pilot study of individuals who heard voices and of whom the majority had been given a diagnosis of psychosis, and a comparison sample of non-voice hearing controls against which the clinical data could be compared (clinical voice hearers, N= 9; controls, N= 9). The IRAP assessed acceptance and avoidance of positively versus negatively valenced voices. All clinical participants completed the IRAP in terms of reaching the standard accuracy and latency criteria, thus demonstrating that a clinical (specifically psychosis) sample can complete contentspecific IRAPs. Indeed, some procedural modifications were required and these have been outlined in the current manuscript. Preliminary results at both the group and individual levels appear to be in a meaningful direction for the psychosis sample, but not for the controls, which was consistent with our predictions. Our preliminary data support the view that the IRAP may be used effectively with a resident in-patient population.