The authors have developed a novel perceptual-emotional technique that can be integrated into the psychotherapeutic process and acts as a facilitator, enhancing its effectiveness and reducing the time required for therapy. This study presents the integration of the perceptual-emotional technique into group psychotherapy for mothers of patients with schizophrenia and schizophrenic spectrum disorders. The participants were divided into two short-term psychotherapy groups: a control group and an experimental group.

The experimental group was provided with specific stimulus material, which, through multisensory exposure, facilitated the formation of emotionally charged cognitive responses by associatively interacting with previously experienced personal events. One component of the technique involved the presentation of eight storyline images from the “Drawn Apperceptive Test” (DAT). The second component was the use of colored backgrounds on which the images were displayed. During the simultaneous perceptual engagement with the schematic DAT images and their colored backgrounds, an interaction between color and form occurred in the patients’ perceptual activity. Employing a spectrum of color backgrounds for the same image allowed participants to associate each hue with a specific aspect of a personal issue, thereby intensifying their emotional engagement with the depicted content.

The results of the study demonstrated statistically significant positive changes in the experimental group compared to the control group, including reductions in psychopathological symptoms such as somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and hostility, as well as improvements in the adaptiveness of cognitive and behavioral coping strategies.

Based on the findings, the proposed perceptual-emotional technique can be recommended for use by psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as a means of facilitating the psychotherapeutic process, increasing its efficiency, expanding the repertoire of rehabilitation methods, and improving the quality of life of patients.

In 2015, Anna Konoreva completed a psychiatric residency at the Moscow Research Institute of Psychiatry, Moscow, Russia. From 2015 to 2023, the author worked as a research fellow and practicing psychiatrist at the Serbsky National Medical Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology. Her clinical work included both individual and group therapy for patients with schizophrenia spectrum and bipolar disorders. Her research focused on impairments in executive functioning in patients with bipolar disorder types I and II. Since 2020, Anna Konoreva has maintained a licensed private outpatient psychiatric practice. Her current clinical and research interests include the management of depressive, anxiety, bipolar, and personality disorders, as well as the study of neurodiversity.