KEYNOTE ABSTRACTS

Anthony P. Morrison, University of Manchester, UK

Metacognitive Theory and Therapy for Psychosiss

Recent models of emotional disorders and psychosis implicate metacognitive beliefs in the development and maintenance of psychological distress. A metacognitive approach to understanding psychosis will be outlined, and a series of studies examining metacognition in people with psychosis and those at high-risk of developing psychosis will be described. Patients with psychotic diagnoses and those at high risk of developing psychosis score higher on metacognitive belief dimensions than non-patients. Patients with psychosis appear to score similarly to patients with anxiety disorders on such measures. Predictions derived from a metacognitive model of psychosis and the S-REF model have been confirmed in large samples of people with psychosis and those at high-risk: negative metacognitive beliefs are positively associated with several dimensions of symptomatology, particularly distress, and positive metacognitive beliefs appear to be particularly implicated in the frequency of psychotic experiences. Case series data and an open trial evaluating metacognitive therapy for psychosis will also be presented and the approach illustrated with case examples. The implications of these studies for theory and clinical practice will be considered.