Empowering Care Partners Through Psychoeducation in Schizophrenia Care

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When a loved one is diagnosed with schizophrenia, their care journey can quickly become a shared one. Far too often, however, families and supporters arrive without the tools to understand what is happening or how best to help. Psychoeducation can play an important role in providing the knowledge and resources needed to build partnership, foster communication, and promote healing, all of which complement the clinical work done by health care providers around personalized treatment plans.

In my work as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and in my personal life as someone with close family members living with schizophrenia, I have seen the positive impact that psychoeducation around serious mental illnesses can have when done well. It can transform confusion into clarity, fear into confidence, and isolation into connection. And I have also seen how, in its absence, families can inadvertently contribute to stigma, miscommunication, and burnout, even with the best intentions. Schizophrenia is a complex condition benefitting from an individualized approach and consistent care. One area we, as providers, can help control is ensuring the individuals we work with are equipped with the information they need to make decisions that support long-term objectives.

Defining Care Partnership

Lately, I have noticed a growing shift, both in my clinic and in the broader mental health community, toward using the term care partner instead of caregiver. This shift may sound small, but it carries real weight. I find the term care partner to be far more empowering, because it reflects a shared journey. Whereas caregiver can imply a 1-way dynamic (such as someone giving care to someone who is without agency), a care partner acknowledges that the person receiving support still has a voice, preferences, and strengths of their own. It is a relationship built on responsibility and connection.

Language matters because it changes how we see and support each other. Referring to someone as a care partner honors their role in a collaborative, respectful way. It is not about doing things forsomeone, rather it is about walking alongsidethem as part of a team. This simple reframe can better recognize the dignity of the person receiving care, and help care partners feel valued and respected by both the care team and their loved one. It reminds all of us that this is a relationship grounded in mutual trust and shared strength. When we start from a place of shared respect, psychoeducation becomes an informative tool for connection and empowerment.

The Importance of Psychoeducation in Schizophrenia Care

Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. It can involve hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, or difficulty with motivation and daily functioning.¹ While schizophrenia can be incredibly challenging to live with, especially without support, there are many ways to help people manage symptoms and live full, active lives.

Psychoeducation is one of the most important tools we have to support individuals living with schizophrenia, as well as those most closely involved with their care. Psychoeducation refers to providing accurate, evidence-based information about a mental health condition, such as schizophrenia—for example, discussing what it is (and what it is not), how it is treated, and what to expect—along with tools for coping and communicating.² It offers a roadmap for what daily support can look like and helps set realistic expectations for everyone involved.

Ideally, psychoeducation starts on day 1, helping to mitigate the stress of those early days following diagnosis when the questions can feel overwhelming. When I meet a new patient, one of the first things I ask is “who is your support system?” That question opens the door to identifying care partners and bringing them in from the very beginning. It allows us to include them in meaningful conversations, set shared goals, and prepare for challenges as a unified team. In my clinic, we take real pride in partnering with patients and their families. It is not just about treating symptoms¾it is about building relationships.

When I offer psychoeducation to care partners, I start with the basics: understanding the diagnosis, discussing treatment options, exploring what the care journey might look like, walking through practical ways to communicate, and incorporating conversation around self-care. These foundational conversations are especially important at the outset of treatment planning when everything can feel daunting and unclear. As an illustration, when I begin to talk about medication choices with a patient and their care partners, it is important for everyone to understand why I might recommend a long-acting injectable medicine or an oral medicine, and what that means for their day-to-day planning. Those choices are grounded in clinical guidelines while factoring in patients’ individual needs.

Psychoeducation is an ongoing process that grows and evolves with the person and their support network. Many providers are already doing some form of psychoeducation without realizing it, but it is important to explore: Is it structured? Are we tracking whether it is actually helping? We need to be intentional about what we are sharing, how we are sharing it, and whether what we share is resonating with patients and their care partners.

A strong psychoeducation program includes discussion around symptoms and medications while also preparing care partners for real-life challenges. This includes recognizing emerging signs of symptom escalation that may lead to potential relapse, building a response plan together, and understanding how cultural or religious beliefs may shape a person’s perspective on treatment. Rather than challenge someone’s beliefs, I try to build on them. I meet them where they are with empathy and offer tools that can complement what they already trust and value. Openness and mutual respect can make all the difference in building rapport and cooperation across the care team.

Helping Care Partners Navigate Their Own Needs

Supporting someone with schizophrenia can take a significant emotional toll. In fact, studies show that more than 60% of caregivers experience symptoms of burnout.³ This alarming statistic underscores why psychoeducation must prioritize the emotional well-being of care partners in parallel to the clinical needs of the patient.

I always try to help enhance emotional intelligence by walking care partners through what I call the “3 As”:

1. Acknowledge the emotion they are feeling.
2. Analyze its origins and validity.
3. Create an Action plan.

That action plan could be as simple as taking a walk, reading something new, or asking more questions. Whatever helps a person to reset, reflect, and respond in a healthy way is the right next step.

I also emphasize that this work is best done, as relevant, with the patient’s involvement and consent. When appropriate, and with the permission of the patient, I invite care partners to be active participants in care planning and team discussions. That collaborative foundation can make everyone feel supported and aligned. This can include proactive conversations about treatment and medication selection. In my practice, there are times when I may recommend long-acting injectable formulations of a medication, for example, because they take some of the logistical pressure off the patient (who no longer has to get to the pharmacy every week to refill their prescription) and worry off family (who no longer has to worry day to day if their loved one has taken their oral medication). Of course, this is a mutual dialogue about the risks and benefits of each kind of medicine that is appropriate.

Meeting Each Person Where They Are

One of the most important lessons I have learned, both professionally and personally, is that supporting someone with schizophrenia means learning to adapt in real time. This starts with the heterogeneity of the illness itself and extends through the nuances and shifts within interpersonal relationships. What works for one person may not work for another. A spouse might need different guidance than a parent or sibling. A young adult living with schizophrenia may have different concerns than an older adult. This is why a person-centered approach is so important—it is less about following a rigid formula and more about finding what actually works for the individual and their unique support system.

Adaptability also means being thoughtful about how we respond in challenging moments. One of the most common habits I have seen, and have been guilty of myself, is immediately asking at any moment when a loved one’s behavior seems out of character, “Did you take your medicine?” That question often comes from a place of concern, but it can unintentionally feel accusatory or dismissive. I have found it far more helpful to pause and ask instead, "How can I help you right now?" That simple shift in language opens the door to meaningful support and connection instead of putting someone on the defensive.

The need for adaptability also shows up in other ways, such as in the time and compassion required for external observers to understand how someone experiences their symptoms. I once worked with a 70-year-old woman living with schizophrenia who shared a home with her 90-year-old mother. The patient had an imagined boyfriend who was not disruptive or dangerous, but instead a figure who helped her manage feelings of loneliness. One day, her mother walked in on a private moment and reacted with shame and judgment, calling her daughter evil and unclean.

The patient was devastated. But once we were able to sit down with her mother and explain what hallucinations can mean and how her daughter was stable and not in danger, everything changed. Her mother began to understand and adapt her own behaviors. She started knocking before entering her daughter’s room, offering her dignity and space. It was a simple adjustment, but one that profoundly improved the quality of their relationship and home life.

I have also experienced these moments of reframing in my own family. When a close family member of mine, who lives with schizophrenia, started a new medication that temporarily stopped his hallucinations, he told me the sudden quiet in his mind was deeply distressing. I immediately assumed I had missed an adverse effect, but actually he was talking about the sudden absence of the voices in his head. He had lived with these voices for most of his life, so the silence was unsettling and frightening. Without the voices actively speaking to him, he believed they were plotting to kill him.

I had to explain to my family and his care team that what might look like clinical improvement on the surface was not feeling that way to the person experiencing the disease. This epitomizes the way psychoeducation helps everyone around the person understand their experience in a more nuanced and compassionate way. It reminds us that progress is not just about what we observe, it is also about how the person with lived experience makes sense of what is happening.

Barriers to Consistent Psychoeducation

As meaningful and transformative as psychoeducation can be, putting it into practice consistently is not always easy. One of the biggest challenges is staff turnover; when team members rotate frequently or leave, it can interrupt the flow of care and create gaps in communication. Patients also sometimes fall out of care altogether, whether due to stigma, burnout, changes to life circumstances, or simply not knowing where to turn next. And even among professionals there is often a lack of shared understanding about what psychoeducation entails.

Psychoeducation is a continuous process that needs ongoing commitment and support. Teams need to be trained and retrained. Families need regular, intentional check-ins. The overall approach must be clear, collaborative, and sustained. Without that foundation, what starts as a well-meaning support plan can quickly become fragmented, leaving patients and care partners feeling confused or isolated.

At its heart, psychoeducation goes far beyond simple information sharing to prioritize building partnerships rooted in trust, empathy, and shared responsibility. It is about creating space for dignity, understanding, and healing for patients and for everyone walking alongside them. As a provider and as a person whose family has been touched by serious mental illness, I know this firsthand: informed care partners play a vital role in helping people live well with schizophrenia and help make stability and long-term well-being possible.

Dr Hicks is founder of the C-Trilogy Comprehensive Clinical Care/C-Trilogy Outreach.

References

1. Schizophrenia. National Institute of Mental Health. 2022. Accessed August 21, 2025. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia

2. Bäuml J, Froböse T, Kraemer S, et al. Psychoeducation: a basic psychotherapeutic intervention for patients with schizophrenia and their families.Schizophr Bull. 2006;32(Suppl 1):S1-S9.

3. Caregiver burnout. Cleveland Clinic. August 16, 2023. Accessed August 21, 2025. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9225-caregiver-burnout