Acceptability and Feasibility of a Brief Paranoia Intervention.

You might be reading this because you, or someone you know, is a young person who has experienced paranoia. Paranoia is an upsetting feeling where you strongly believe others intend to cause you harm. It can make everyday life difficult and you might find it hard to trust people. It's more common than you might think in teenagers, and often affects young people getting help for their mental health, even if they don't have psychosis. At the moment, there aren't many proven therapies made specifically for young people with paranoia, as most treatments are designed for adults. This study wants to help fill that gap by exploring a new approach.

The study is looking at a new, short talking therapy called TRUST. This therapy helps young people think about what's really important to them in life (their 'values') and teaches them how to use their imagination to create more positive experiences. These types of approaches have shown promise in adults for reducing paranoid thoughts, by helping to change unhelpful ways of thinking, difficult mental images, and feelings about themselves and others. However, young people need treatments that are right for their age and experiences.

So, this research has two main goals. Firstly, it wants to see if the TRUST therapy can be easily given to young people in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and if young people find it to be a good and helpful therapy. This includes checking if enough young people want to take part and if they stick with the sessions. Secondly, the study will look to see if there are any early signs that the therapy helps to reduce paranoid thoughts and might improve other things like how young people feel about themselves, their day-to-day life, and their ability to act on what matters most to them.