Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression

This groundbreaking book explains the "whats" and "how-tos" of Metacognitive Therapy (MCT), an innovative form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy with a growing empirical evidence base. MCT developer Adrian Wells shows that much psychological distress results from how a person responds to negative thoughts and beliefs - for example, by ruminating or worrying - rather than the content of those thoughts. He presents practical techniques and specific protocols for addressing metacognitive processes to effectively treat Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and major Depression. Special features include reproducible treatment plans and assessment and case formulation tools, plus a wealth of illustrative case material.

Adrian Wells, PhD, Division of Clinical Psychology, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom

"The procedures Wells describes will be enormously useful to therapists of all persuasions, and can form the bedrock of low-intensity and high-intensity interventions for a wide range of disorders." - Chris R. Brewin, University College London, UK "As a clinician who has struggled with helping people work through dysfunctional thinking patterns, I can appreciate the usefulness of Wells's methods. Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) helps both the patient and the therapist take a step back from the sometimes repetitive work of cognitive therapy, and lends a new perspective with the potential for breaking through treatment roadblocks. Well done!" - Monica Ramirez Basco, University of Texas at Arlington, USA "This book presents a new and innovative approach that focuses on how patients think, as much as what they believe. It is firmly grounded in basic science and packed full of powerful clinical strategies... Should prove to be a valuable tool for graduate training across the professional disciplines." - Steven D. Holl