Individualized Metacognitive Therapy (MCT+) for Psychosis (English)
MCT+ combines the process-oriented approach of metacognitive group training with elements of individual cognitive-behavioral therapy. Six years after the release of the first edition, we are happy to provide the second edition. In light of multiple studies indicating that patients often view their affective problems as more important treatment targets than their positive symptoms, we have broadened the approach, which was initially concerned only with the cognitive biases responsible for psychotic symptoms, so that MCT+ now also addresses low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and stigma. The present program contains new or optimized exercises as well as a new unit on self-esteem. The links below are to a shortened adaptation of the German MCT+ concept. We would be very grateful for feedback on this version.
These materials are free to download for personal or clinical use; commercial use is strictly prohibited. Copyright restrictions apply (e.g., materials must not be modified or reused without the authors' prior consent). You may download the worksheets for each unit below. If you plan to administer individualized metacognitive training for psychosis (MCT+), please send us a brief email: moritz@uke.de. We would also be grateful for any comments you might have and any recommendations for revision.
Please Support Our Work
We are pleased to provide the MCT materials—such as manuals, slides, and worksheets—free of charge. However, to help us continue and expand this work, we kindly ask for your support. We suggest a donation of $35/35€ for individuals or $100/100€ for institutions. Click here to donate.
Your generosity enables us to regularly update and expand the MCT materials, conduct rigorous scientific evaluations, and translate the program into additional languages—allowing more people worldwide to access effective, low-threshold support.
You can donate online via this link. For details on how contributions are used, please see here. We are happy to provide an official donation receipt upon request.
Please note that we have also developed certified e-trainings for MCT for psychosis (www.uke.de/e-mct) and D-MCT for depression (www.uke.de/e-dmct) for therapists. For an e-learning on body-focused repetitive behaviors, see www.uke.de/e-bfrb-training.
Modules (zipped PDF Files)
English version by Steffen Moritz, Francesca Bohn, Ruth Veckenstedt, Lucy Leighton, Todd S. Woodward, and Marit Hauschildt.
Please click below to access the manual, which includes a brief introduction for all 11 MCT+ units. For MCT therapy sessions, we recommend printing the presentation, which can be reused with different patients. The worksheets are handed to the patient. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest developments.
Recent meta-analysis: Liu, Y. C., Tang, C. C., Hung, T. T., Tsai, P. C., & Lin M. F. (2018). The efficacy of Metacognitive Training for delusions in patients with schizophrenia: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials informs evidence-based practice. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 15,130–139.
Meinhart, A., Sauvé, G., Schmueser, A., Penney, D., Berna, F., Gawęda, Ł., Lamarca, M., Moritz, S., Ochoa, S., König, C., Acuña, V., & Fischer, R. (2025). Metacognitive training for psychosis (MCT): a systematic meta-review of its effectiveness. Translational Psychiatry, 15(1), 156. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03344-0
Help us to help others!
In view of the troubling financial situation of many psychiatric hospitals, it is our goal to provide most of our interventions free of charge. However, research is time-intensive and requires significant financial resources.. If you would like to support us financially, we would be very grateful for donations. We will help you, of course, whether or not you have made a donation. No one should feel morally obligated to make a contribution.
We guarantee that all donations will be used for the further development of our interventions (future tasks: translation of modules into other languages, new graphics). On request, we can send you a receipt for your donation (please email Steffen Moritz: moritz@uke.de). Please inquire about different sponsorship opportunities.