Metacognitive Therapy (MCT)

Metacognitive Therapy is based on the idea that psychological suffering is the result of paying excessive attention to certain unhelpful ways of thinking (thought processes such as worrying, ruminating, and monitoring for threats). We get caught up in these thought processes because of our ‘metacognitive beliefs’. Metacognitive beliefs are beliefs we hold about our thinking processes – or how we think about our thoughts. When we suffer mental health problems, we often believe that we are helpless to do anything about our thoughts, or that worrying and ruminating serve a purpose somehow. 

These beliefs are often reinforced by unhelpful behavioural coping strategies, so part of the therapy will also be to learn more helpful behavioural responses.

In this approach to therapy, rather than focusing on what you worry about, the focus is on learning to relate differently to your thoughts – to be able to experience thoughts as passing events in the mind – so that you can reduce the time you spend worrying and ruminating. More specifically, we will work on enabling you to move your attention away from the unhelpful thought processes. We want you to realise that you can be in control of your attention and that engaging with worry and rumination does not serve you.