Metacognitive Therapy: Transdiagnostic Mechanisms, Worry, Rumination, and Attention Control

Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy, increasingly recognized for its efficiency and high success rates in treating a broad spectrum of common mental health conditions. Studies have shown that MCT can surpass cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in effectively treating anxiety, trauma, and depression. While CBT focuses on challenging the content of thoughts, MCT targets regulating worry, rumination and patterns of attention that are triggered by mental events. MCT is based on a well specified, empirically-supported model of higher-order cognition (metacognition) that underlies the maladaptive regulation of thinking- a core mechanism in psychological disorders. The model specifies that cognition is dominated by perseverative negative thinking, commonly in the form of worry, rumination and fixated attention on threat. This pattern, known as the cognitive attentional syndrome (CAS) arises from biases in the metacognitive control system. MCT aims to bring the CAS under control directly and indirectly by modifying this control system. Importantly, MCT is transdiagnostic in nature, meaning it is designed to target core cognitive processes that are shared across a wide range of psychological disorders. Its transdiagnostic approach allows for a flexible treatment model that can be adapted to individual needs without being constrained by specific diagnostic categories.

This Research Topic builds on the success of an earlier topic: Metacognitive Therapy: Science and Practice of a Paradigm. It brings together a series of cutting-edge papers from international researchers that address important questions concerning the effectiveness of MCT and the relationships between worry, rumination, attention and metacognition. As the field evolves, this collection showcases the frontiers of MCT research, including its application in diverse clinical populations, psychological mechanisms findings, and its potential to shape the development of psychological treatment in the future.

Topic Editors Prof. Adrian Wells and Prof. Hans Nordahl are co-directors and shareholders of the Metacognitive Therapy Institute (MCTI). The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regards to the Research Topic subject. .

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This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review

Keywords: metacognitive therapy, rumination, worry, mental health

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