This model is the foundation of Metacognitive Therapy (MCT), which was developed by Wells. The Metacognitive Model of Psychopathology, also known as the Self-Regulatory Executive Function (S-REF) model, is an information processing theory that explains the development and maintenance of psychological disorders. The key components of this model are:
Cognitive Attentional Syndrome (CAS): This is the core mechanism that causes and maintains psychological distress. The CAS consists of three main processes:
- Worry and rumination
- Threat monitoring
- Coping behaviors that backfire
Metacognitive beliefs: These are beliefs about one’s own thoughts and cognitive processes. They can be categorized into two types:
- Positive beliefs (e.g., “I must worry to cope”)
- Negative beliefs (e.g., “Some thoughts are dangerous”)
Mental modes: The model distinguishes between two modes of processing
- Object mode: Where thoughts are treated as facts about the world
- Metacognitive mode: Where thoughts are seen as mental events that can be observed and controlled
Executive functions: These play a role in how a person focuses and refocuses on certain thoughts and mental modes
The central idea of the Metacognitive Model is that psychological disorders are not caused by the content of negative thoughts themselves, but rather by how a person responds to those thoughts. The model posits that extended thinking in response to negative thoughts, driven by metacognitive beliefs, leads to the persistence of emotional distress. For example, a person with anxiety might have the metacognitive belief that worrying helps them prepare for threats. This belief leads them to engage in excessive worry (part of the CAS), which paradoxically maintains their anxiety rather than resolving it. Metacognitive Therapy, based on this model, aims to:
- Identify and modify patients/ metacognitive beliefs
- Reduce the Cognitive Attentional Syndrome
- Teach patients alternative ways of responding to thoughts
- Help patients shift from object mode to metacognative mode of processing
To find more detailed descriptions and explanations of the Metacognitive Model of Psychopathology, you can refer to the following sources:
Adrian Wells’s book “Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety and Depression,” published by Guilford Press
Scientific articles by Adrian Wells and colleagues, such as those referenced in the search results. The Wikipedia page on Metacognitive therapy, which provides an overview of the model and its applications
These sources should provide you with comprehensive information about the Metacognitive Model of Psychopathology and its role in Metacognitive Therapy.