MERIT
MERIT (Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy) is a manual-based psychotherapy specifically designed for people in recovery from schizophrenia and other forms of severe mental illness.
Developed by Paul Lysaker, PhD and colleagues, MERIT is a psychotherapy model amenable to clinicians working from a variety of orientations who are interested in helping their clients to improve their metacognitive capacities.
What is metacognition?
The simplest definition of metacognition is "thinking about thinking." It encompasses the range of mental activities that people use to reflect upon and form ideas about themselves and others, determine what challenges they are facing in the world, and how to respond to them.
What is recovery?
In the context of severe mental illness, recovery involves both the individual process of change by which people improve their health and wellness and strive to live a self-directed life to its full potential, as well as to the outcomes involved in this process, including symptom remission, improvments in functioning, and changes to subjective well-being. MERIT, as a recovery-oriented psychotherapy, is interested in both the process and outcomes involved in recovery.
How does MERIT support recovery?
MERIT supports recovery by assisting people to make sense of their experiences and to recapture a sense of personal agency and self-determination. MERIT assists individuals in reflecting on the nature of the problems they face and how they may chose to manage them. MERIT clinicians carefully assess individuals' metacognitive capacities and offer therapy interventions aimed at enhancing metacognition.
What's the research support for MERIT?
There is a large body of work supporting the effectiveness of MERIT in helping people diagnosed with serious mental illness. This includes both randomized and open clinical trials as well as qualitative research and a series of detailed case studies. There is also an extensive research literature exploring the role of metacognitive impairments in serious mental illness. More information about MERIT can be found in the FAQs and in the bibliography.
