Exploring the meaning of visual and auditory hallucinations: A commentary on Pixley's discussion of the difficulties in addressing hallucinations during psychodynamic therapy

Pixley (this issue, pp. 382-392) reviews and discusses the way psychoanalytic and psychodynamic theories address hallucinations, noting the possible limitations of these theories. In this commentary, I suggest that there are challenges in addressing hallucinations that are beyond any particular approach of psychotherapy, and that exploring the personal meaning of hallucinations is accordingly important. In addition, I will suggest that cognitive models, as well as narrative approaches to insight in psychosis, provide frameworks for the exploration and interpretations of the hallucinatory experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)