Membership

MERIT is the product of an ongoing long-term collaboration of international scholars interested in the role of metacognition in severe mental illness.

The MERIT Institute was founded in 2014 in order to support the continued development of the international community of clinicians and researchers interested in MERIT.

Management Council

Paul Lysaker

Paul Lysaker, PhD, President

Paul H. Lysaker, PhD is a clinical psychologist with over 35 years of experience providing recovery oriented psychotherapy to adults diagnosed with a serious mental illness. He is the president of the MERIT Institute and a professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Indiana University School of Medicine and an author of over 475 peer reviewed articles. Contact

Simone Cheli

Simone Cheli, PsyD

Simone Cheli, Psy.D. is adjunct professor at the School of Human Health Sciences of the University of Florence, and clinical psychologist at the Central Tuscany Health Trust. He is also the founding president of Tages Onlus, a charity member of Mental Health Europe whose clinical centers are located in Florence and Bologna. His main research question is how a schizotypal organization of personality may manifest in either healthy oddity or severe forms of fragmentation. He tries to answer to this question by integrating metacognitive and evolutionary perspectives. Contact

Jay Hamm

Jay Hamm, PsyD

Jay Hamm, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist at Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center in Indianapolis, IN. He provides MERIT to adults diagnosed with serious mental illness and actively trains graduate students and community mental health workers in MERIT. He is the author of more than 50 peer reviewed articles and several book chapters on metacognition, MERIT, recovery, and psychotherapy supervision. Contact

Ilanit Hasson-Ohayon

Ilanit Hasson-Ohayon, PhD

Ilanit Hasson-Ohayon, PhD, is a rehabilitation psychologist and full professor at the Department of Psychology at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She studies different psychological aspects of coping with illnesses, especially serious mental illnesses, and has been involved in practicing and supervising psychotherapy for over 20 years. She is an author of over 150 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in the field of clinical-rehabilitation psychology. Contact

Reid Klion

Reid Klion, PhD

Reid Klion, PhD is a clinical psychologist and former faculty member of the Indiana University School of Medicine. He has written in the areas of adult psychopathology and addictions and is also an expert in the use of psychometric assessment in business settings. He collaborates with Paul Lysaker on writing projects and manages the operation of the MERIT Institute. Contact

Bethany Leonhardt

Bethany Leonhardt, PsyD

Bethany L. Leonhardt, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist practicing in a first episode psychosis clinic and Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at Indiana University School of Medicine. Her research and clinical interests include promoting recovery in early psychosis through recovery-oriented psychotherapy, metacognition in early psychosis, and understanding severe psychopathology as it emerges in young adulthood. She was an active contributor to the conversations which shaped MERIT and is actively teaching the core MERIT assessment procedures. Contact

 

 

Foundational Contributors

Rebecca Bargenquast

Rebecca Bargenquast, PhD

Dr. Rebecca Bargenquast is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in Brisbane, Australia. She runs her own private practice providing psychotherapy for adolescents and adults, and supervision for early career psychologists. Rebecca with Professor Schweitzer led a seminal study investigating the effectiveness of a metacognitive approach to therapy for people diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. She continues to be interested in psychological interventions for people who have experienced psychosis and provides supervision and training specific to this area of interest. Contact

Kelly Buck

Kelly D. Buck, CNS

Kelly D. Buck, CNS is a retired Clinical Nurse Specialist who provided and supervised MERIT informed psychotherapy for patients with prolonged and first episode psychosis at the Roudebush VA Medical Center. Her research interests include understanding the intersubjective processes which facilitate metacognitive growth in psychotherapy. She was an active contributor to the original conversations which shaped MERIT and those which have followed after its first iterations. Her clinical work is foundational for the creation of MERIT. Contact

Steven de Jong

Steven de Jong, PhD

Steven de Jong defended his PhD thesis on Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy for persons with severe mental illness in 2018. He now divides his time between research and clinical work at Lentis Psychiatric Institute, in the Netherlands. His research interests are psychosis, the therapeutic alliance and metacognition. Contact

Ginacarlo Dimaggio

Ginacarlo Dimaggio, MD

Giancarlo Dimaggio, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist lives and works in Rome in the Centre for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy. He has published over 200 papers and book chapters in English. He has co-authored many books including: "Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy: Body, Imagery and Change" (Routledge), "Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Personality disorders" (Routledge) and edited with P.H. Lysaker "Metacognition and severe adult mental disorders (Routledge) and with J. Livesley and J. Clarkin "Integrated treatment for personality disorders" (Guilford). He is editor in chief for the Journal of Clinical Psychology: In-Session, senior associate editor for the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration and associate editor for Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice. Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT) has received empirical support in Italy, Australia, Spain and Denmark and is currently applied also in Norway and Portugal. Contact

Ondrej Pec

Ondrej Pec, MD, PhD

Ondrej Pec, MD, PhD is a researcher, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and group analyst. He is the director and psychiatrist at the ESET Psychotherapeutic and Psychosomatic Clinic, and a university teacher and researcher at the First Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague. He is involved in research in the field of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and psychiatric rehabilitation in psychoses, including metacognition. His other interests include research in the area of influence of traumatic stress on psychiatric diseases or psychotherapy of personality disorders. Contact

David Pfenninger

David Pfenninger, PhD

David Pfenninger, PhD was a clinical psychologist and faculty member of the Indiana University School of Medicine before founding Performance Assessment Network Inc. in 2000. Named Ernst & Young Great Lakes Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005, he later co-founded the digital media firm BubbleUp, Ltd. Pfenninger was instrumental in the founding of the MERIT Institute and continues to be a key supporter and advisor. Contact

Raffaella Popolo

Raffaella Popolo, MD

Raffaele Popolo, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist lives and works in Rome in the Center for Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy; he is responsible for the Mental Health Center in via Plinio ASL Roma 1, and year coordinator of the Degree Course in Psychiatric Rehabilitation Technique, "La Sapienza" University of Rome. He has published over 100 papers and book chapters in English and Italian.?He has co-authored many books including: "Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy: Body, Imagery and Change" (Routledge), "Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Personality disorders" (Routledge); about schizophrenia "Interventi precoci nelle psicosi" (Alpes Italia), "Terapia Metacognitiva Interpersonale per la schizofrenia" (Franco Angeli), "Psicoeducazione di gruppo per il paziente grave. Manuale di intervento sul funzionamento sociale" (Franco Angeli). Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT) has received empirical support in Italy and in several other countries; a new MIT Group protocol has received empirical support in Italy and Spain. Contact

Robert Schweitzer

Robert Schweitzer, PhD

Prof Robert Schweitzer is a researcher, teacher and clinician in the School of Psychology and Counselling at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. His research and practice are informed by principles of metacognitive reflection and insight therapy which has led to publications on the effectiveness of the approach in response to the needs of people with a history of psychosis and also personality disorders. His current research is focussing upon mechanisms of change underpinning metacognitive-based therapeutic approaches. Contact 

 

 

Research Contributors

Kelsey Bonfils

Kelsey Bonfils, PhD

Kelsey A. Bonfils, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi. She received her degree in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Dr. Bonfils has expertise in the research and treatment of social cognitive deficits in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and other psychopathology. Dr. Bonfils' work has revealed significant deficits in empathy, a less-studied social cognitive process in schizophrenia, and examined how distress, metacognition, and emotion regulatory processes intersect with social cognitive abilities for this group. Contact

Benjamin Buck

Benjamin Buck, PhD

Ben Buck, Ph.D., is the Clinical Training Lead in the Behavioral Research in Technology and Engineering (BRiTE) Center and an Acting Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. He is interested in understanding, assessing and treating the cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors underlying persecutory ideation. He is also dedicated to developing mobile health (mHealth) interventions that can be delivered remotely to individuals at risk of psychosis and their family caregivers to promote treatment seeking and reduce duration of untreated illness. Contact

Nikita Chernov

Nikita Chernov

Nikita Chernov, Clinical psychologist, is the Head of the department of psychotherapeutic care and social rehabilitation at the Alekseev N.A. Mental Hospital No 1 in Moscow. He is also coordinator of the Russian MERIT Research and Supervisory group affiliated with the MERIT Institute. He is currently engaged in a research project investigating metacognitive function in persons with the first psychotic episode, eating disorders and depression. Contact

Yael Cohen-Hazani

Yael Cohen-Hazani, PhD

Yael Cohen-Hazani, Ph.D. is a senior clinical psychologist on a women's acute psychiatric ward in the Jerusalem mental health center. Her doctoral work focused on the contribution of Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) on the acute psychiatric ward. The results of the study so far indicate a significant improvement in the metacognition indices of patients at the end of treatment as well as an improvement in symptom indices. Contact

Nadezda Dmitrieva

Nadezda Dmitrieva

Nadezda Dmitrieva is a clinical psychologist at the department of psychological care and psychosocial rehabilitation in the Alekseev N.A. Hospital No. 1 in Moscow, Russia. She has studied the relationship between metacognitive function and negative symptoms in persons with schizophrenia, early psychosis and depression in a Russian sample. She is currently studying the use of MAS-A in Russia and researching the relationship between metacognitive profiles and negative symptoms in groups with anorexia, bulimia, depression, and schizophrenia. Contact

Julien Dubreucq

Julien Dubreucq, MD, PhD

Julien Dubreucq MD, PhD is a psychiatrist/child adolescent psychiatrist working in perinatal psychiatry and psychiatric rehabilitation at Saint Etienne University Hospital / at the Erasmus Medical College, Rotterdam. He has led the center of reference for psychiatric rehabilitation and two FondaMental expert centers for SSD and ASD in Grenoble Alpes Isère Hospital from 2012 to 2020. He has experience in psychiatric rehabilitation, recovery-oriented practice, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia-spectrum disorder (SSD). His research interests include self-stigma, recovery-oriented practice and perinatal psychiatry and metacognitively-oriented interventions (individual and group-based). Contact

Laura Faith

Laura Faith, PhD

Laura Faith Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Health Scientist at the Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. She trained with Paul Lysaker as a pre-doctoral intern. She is actively involved in MERIT research, including an ongoing study exploring the use of MERIT to improve insight. She is interested in research focused on improvement and delivery of psychosocial interventions for individuals with serious mental illness, especially implementation science, qualitative inquiry, metacognition, and cognitive rehabilitation. Contact

Ruthie Firmin

Ruth Firmin, PhD

Ruth Firmin, PhD is a former student of Paul Lysaker, with clinical training in MERIT and ongoing research collaborations. Her research explores stigma and factors, including metacognition, that promote stigma resistance. She is currently a clinical psychologist and instructor at Brown University Medical School, specializing in working with individuals with serious mental illness and psychosis. Contact

Emily Gagen

Emily Gagen, PhD

Emily Gagen, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and former trainee of Paul Lysaker. She is a clinician at the Prevention and Recovery in Early Psychosis (PREP) Program at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, and is an assistant professor (research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She currently provides and supervises MERIT-informed psychotherapy for young people with psychosis. Her research interests include the intersubjective processes which facilitate metacognitive growth in psychotherapy and the relationship between psychosis, trauma, and fragmentation. Contact

Helena Garcia Mieres

Helena García Mieres, PhD

Helena García-Mieres Ph.D. is a general health psychologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM) in Barcelona, Spain. She received training in the MAS-A scale and MERIT during a research stay with Paul Lysaker. She has many publications regarding the links between personal identity and clinical factors in psychotic disorders. She has published a study about the role of metacognition as a mediator in the expression on negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients. She has written a book chapter about how to treat thought insertion using MERIT. She is currently writing a book chapter together with Félix Inchausti in Spanish about the efficacy of MERIT for treating different forms of psychotic disorders for a Spanish clinical guideline. Her additional research interests include personal recovery, women's health and the dynamics of health behaviors. Contact

Jaclyn Hillis

Jaclyn Hillis, PhD

Jaclyn Hillis, PhD, is a clinical psychologist at the Chillicothe VA Medical Center in Chillicothe, Ohio. She currently provides and supervises MERIT informed psychotherapy for individuals experiencing early and prolonged psychosis. She is actively researching the effects of MERIT on emotion regulation among individuals diagnosed with psychosis who live in a rural Appalachian community. Her interests also include understanding the intersubjective processes that promote integration of self-experience and movement towards recovery. Contact

Libby Igra

Libby Igra

Libby Igra is a clinical psychologist and a PhD candidate under the supervision of Prof. Hasson-Ohayon. She is interested in the evaluation of mechanisms of change in metacognitive psychotherapy for individuals with schizophrenia with a focus on the role of emotional factors during the course of psychotherapy. Contact

Marina Kukla

Marina Kukla, PhD

Marina Kukla, PhD is a clinical psychologist and research scientist at the HSR&D Center for Health Information and Communication at the Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, IN. She is also as Associate Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Dr. Kukla has been a principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple VA funded studies that focus on promoting recovery in adults with mental illness and other chronic disorders. She is especially interested in developing, testing, and implementing psychosocial approaches, including metacognitive approaches, to bolster functioning and wellness in veterans with psychiatric illness. Contact

Adi Lavi-Rotenberg

Adi Lavi-Rotenberg

Adi Lavi-Rotenberg is a rehabilitation psychologist and Ph.D. student at Bar-Ilan University, where she is supervised by Ilanit Hasson-Ohayon Ph.D., a professor in the department of psychology. Her research explores the links between metacognition and outcomes among adults with schizophrenia, and specifically the factors that enhance changes in metacognition abilities and in functioning during MERIT. Contact

Tania Lecomte

Tania Lecomte

Tania Lecomte, Ph.D., is Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université de Montréal, senior researcher at the CR-IUSMM, and registered clinical psychologist. She is interested in the assessment of needs, self-esteem and social functioning, cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp), first episodes of schizophrenia, professional reintegration of people with severe mental illness, as well as concurrent disorders (psychosis and substance abuse or social anxiety). Dr Lecomte has helped develop and validate assessment tools as well as several group interventions for individuals with severe mental illness. She has received several federal grants as PI and co-I over the years and has published more than 140 articles and 4 books. Contact

Nancy Lundin

Nancy Lundin

Nancy B. Lundin is a Ph.D. student in Clinical Science and Neuroscience at Indiana University Bloomington under the mentorship of William Hetrick, Ph.D. She will be on clinical internship at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center from 2021-2. Her primary research interests lie in characterizing thought disorder in individuals across the psychotic spectrum using computational linguistic methods and examining the role of the cerebellum in coordinating cognitive processes. She is also interested in understanding the relationship between the capacity to organize one's speech and metacognitive processes of piecing together information about oneself and others in severe mental illness. Contact

Lauren Luther

Lauren Luther, PhD

Lauren Luther, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She previously trained with Paul Lysaker while completing her doctorate at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Her research broadly focuses on the identification and treatment of neurobiological and cognitive mechanisms of negative symptoms, particularly reduced motivation, in people with and at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Currently, she is studying the role that metacognition plays in the development and maintenance of negative symptoms in those on the schizophrenia-spectrum. Contact

John Lysaker

John Lysaker, PhD

John Lysaker is the William R. Kenan Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. Alongside work in the philosophy of art and the history of philosophy, he has contributed to dozens of papers regarding sense of self in schizophrenia and prospects for recovery. With Paul Lysaker, he is also co-author of Schizophrenia and the Fate of the Self (Oxford). Contact

Hamish McLeod

Hamish McLeod, PhD

Hamish McLeod is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Glasgow and an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist with the NHS. His research and clinical work focus on the understanding and treatment of complex mental health and neuropsychological conditions especially those that result in negative symptoms such as apathy, social withdrawal, low energy, and amotivation. His research also involves numerous global mental health projects spanning countries and cultures across Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. Finally, he has a strong interest in workforce development in the UK National Health Service and in low resource contexts across the globe. Contact

Kyle Minor

Kyle S. Minor, PhD

Kyle S. Minor, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Clinical Psychology program at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. One of his primary areas of expertise is in Formal Thought Disorder in individuals at different points on the schizophrenia-spectrum. Currently, he is collaborating on projects that 1) explore links between thought disorder, neurocognition, and metacognition, 2) examine the lexical correlates of metacognitive deficits in schizophrenia, and 3) investigate the role of metacognition in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Contact

Tatiana Moiseeva

Tatiana Moiseeva

Tatiana Moiseeva, PhD, a clinical psychologist. She has been working in the Alekseev N.A. Hospital No. 1 in Moscow since 2008. She is involved in a study on the use of MAS-A in Russia amd is also conducting a research on the relationship between metacognitive abilities and negative symptoms in persons with anorexia, bulimia, depression and schizophrenia. Contact

Hugo Pulphin

Hugo Pulphin, MD

Hugo Phulpin is a French psychiatrist from Toulouse. He is particularly interested in schizophrenia and trained during his medical internship in psychiatric phenomenology and metacognitive psychotherapy with Professor Paul Lysaker. His current reflection is particularly focused on the question of decentration, and he defended his MD thesis in April 2021, which explores the possible extension of MERIT to collective care. He now works as a full time practicing psychiatrist between Lavaur and Toulouse in France. Contact

Kevin Rice

Kevin Rice, PhD

Kevin Rice is the Director of Research Development at Fountain House in New York City. Fountain House is the founding program of the Clubhouse model of community-based treatment for serious mental illness. Kevin's work focuses on the intersection of social determinants of health and the impact of community reintegration on the recovery trajectories of persons with histories of mental illness. Kevin has also explored the overlap between the social therapeutic strategies of the Clubhouse model and metacognitive understandings of serious mental illness, investigating how community-based programs enhance metacognition. Contact

Jeremy Ridenour

Jeremy Ridenour, PsyD

Jeremy Ridenour, Psy.D. is a psychologist and psychoanalyst who is the Director of Psychological Testing at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA. His research interests the overlap between psychodynamic psychotherapy, mentalization-based approaches, and other therapeutic approaches such as MERIT for individuals experiencing psychosis. He has also written about the treatment of delusions, negative symptoms, and the centrality of the therapist's stance when working with individuals suffering from psychosis. in addition, he has conducted psychological assessment research on personality disorders and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Contact

Ashley Schnakenberg Martin

Ashley Schnakenberg Martin, PhD

Dr. Schnakenberg Martin is a clinical psychologist who completed her Ph.D. at Indiana University, as well as clinical training with Dr. Paul Lysaker at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center. She is currently on faculty at Yale University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and a clinical psychologist in the Psychology Service at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Dr. Schnakenberg Martin's work focuses on understanding the role of substance use, such as cannabis, as a catalyst to the development of psychosis. Further, she is interested in studying the relationship between metacognition and cannabis use, and in exploring the utility of Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) in group formats and in those dual-diagnosed with psychosis and substance use disorders. Contact

Marta Sozinova

Marta Sozinova

Marta Sozinova is a clinical psychologist at the department of psychological care and psychosocial rehabilitation in the Alekseev N.A. Hospital No. 1 in Moscow, Russia. She has studied the relationship between contrasting metacognitive profiles and their association with negative symptoms in groups with schizophrenia, early psychosis and depression in a Russian sample. She is currently participating in a study of the use of MAS-A in Russia and is also conducting a study on the relationship between metacognitive profiles and negative symptoms in groups with anorexia, bulimia, depression, and schizophrenia. Contact

Jenifer Vohs

Jenifer Vohs, PhD

Jenifer L. Vohs Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, former student of Paul Lysaker, and currently an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine. She is actively involved in the provision and supervision of MERIT informed psychotherapy for individuals with syndromes of increased risk for psychotic illness and those in the early phases. Her research involves the examination of metacognitive capacity in psychosis, the use of MERIT to address poor insight, and the link between metacognitive capacity and brain function abnormalities. She has been an active contributor to the conversations which shaped MERIT after its first iteration. Contact

Sally Wasmuth

Sally Wasmuth, PhD

Dr. Wasmuth's background is in African-American Studies, Philosophical Studies of Biology, and Occupational Therapy. Her research focuses on translational and implementation science, particularly in the areas of occupation-based intervention for addictive disorders and dual-diagnosis. Dr. Wasmuth has conducted several qualitative studies examining relationships between metacognition and occupational participation, and is currently engaged in contextualizing MERIT within occupational therapy theory and practice. She is involved in several arts-based recovery initiatives, including the use of theatre as both a therapeutic intervention and a means of stimulating community conversations on critical topics including the opioid crisis and healthcare inequities related to race. Contact

Abigail Wright

Abigail Wright, PhD

Abigail Wright, Ph.D. is an Instructor in the Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Abigail's research has focused on understanding the association between metacognitive capacity and characteristics of early psychosis, particularly difficulties in psychosocial functioning and hallucinations, and has collaborated with colleagues in the MERIT Institute to develop this line of research. Most recently, Abigail has begun using mobile health assessments, such as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), to examine the temporal associations between these factors in daily life. Contact

Teaching and Clinical Contributors

Jackie Abate

Jackie Abate, PhD

Jackie Abate, PsyD, HSPP is a clinical psychologist at Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center. She offers MERIT informed psychotherapy and assessment to adults experiencing psychosis and other serious mental illnesses, and provides supervision and consultation to interdisciplinary treatment teams. Her clinical interests involve meaning-making in psychosis, recovery, psychological assessment, and the therapy relationship. Jackie began learning MERIT as a student, and is actively training clinicians and doctoral practicum students in this approach. Contact

Allison James

Allison James, PsyD

Alison James, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist at the VA Maryland Health Care System (VAMHCS). She completed her clinical internship in Serious Mental Illness and Recovery under the supervision of Dr. Lysaker at the Roudebush VA Medical Center and went on to complete her postdoctoral fellowship in Psychosocial Rehabilitation at the San Francisco VA Health Care System. In her current role, she provides MERIT informed psychotherapy and facilitates didactic trainings on MERIT. She has additionally participated in a number of research projects on metacognition and MERIT and supervised MERIT informed psychotherapy. Contact

Mark Richardson

Mark Richardson,PhD

Mark Richardson is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Pennsylvania. He has presented and published on psychosis, the therapeutic relationship, and recovery in settings of confinement. He spent over five years leading a team in providing psychotherapy in a maximum-security prison, while working to abolish solitary confinement and other harmful practices. He served as chair of the Philadelphia chapter of The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis, and is currently an instructor at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia and Doctoral Clinical Psychology Program at Immaculata University. Contact

Alysia Siegel

Alysia Siegel, PsyD

Alysia Siegel, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in the Veterans Health Administration and former supervisee of Paul Lysaker. She actively seeks to integrate MERIT in her clinical work with individuals experiencing trauma related concerns and psychosis. Dr. Siegel regularly utilizes the MAS-A as a framework for conceptualization and assessment. She has investigated metacognitive capacity in PTSD populations. Dr. Siegel is passionate about educating mental health professionals and supervisees on the principles and benefits of MERIT. Contact