ABSTRACT
Our understanding of serious mental illness (SMI) has changed. Recovery is possible, and people can take ownership of their paths toward wellness. Since it is virtually inevitable that persons with SMI will confront a range of social, political, and economic challenges, how they cope and make sense of these circumstances is critical. This is the first chapter of the guidebook to Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT). MERIT is an integrative form of individual psychotherapy that is designed to assist persons with SMI to develop more integrative understandings of themselves and others in order to enable them to better manage their lives and achieve their personal goals and aspirations. MERIT uses the term “metacognition” to refer to the psychological processes that enable us to make sense of ourselves and the world. MERIT seeks to promote recovery by assisting people to improve their metacognitive capacities and does so through using interventions that are tailored and targeted to the patient’s current level of functioning. MERIT is an integrative model of psychotherapy amenable to clinicians working from a variety of orientations and promotes recovery by addressing metacognitive deficits.
