Treatment Modality
Metacognitive Therapy (MCT)
If you’ve ever felt like you just can’t turn your brain off, Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) may be worth considering. MCT is a research-backed treatment designed specifically for chronic worriers and overthinkers. The word metacognitive refers to “thinking about thinking” — not by analyzing what you’re thinking, but by changing how you relate to your thoughts in the first place.
Many people assume overthinking simply happens to them, but in reality, it’s often a learned mental habit — your brain has been trained to treat nearly every thought as urgent, dangerous, or in need of solving.
MCT helps you examine the beliefs you’ve developed about worry itself — like whether you think it keeps you prepared, protects you from danger, or keeps you in control.
But over time, constantly engaging with your thoughts becomes exhausting. Persistent overthinking can lead to insomnia, irritability, mental fatigue, trouble focusing and depression — and when those symptoms set in, the mind often responds with even more worry about why it’s happening. Eventually, the strategy meant to reduce anxiety ends up reinforcing it. That’s where MCT comes in — not by giving you new answers to analyze, but by teaching you how to step out of the cycle entirely.
You don’t have to intervene
Your mind knows how to regulate itself
Metacognitive Therapy is based on the idea that the mind is self-regulating — it is designed to reset on its own unless we interfere. Much like a cut heals when you stop picking at it, your thoughts will pass if you stop poking at them.
But worry convinces your brain that every thought needs attention, so instead of letting your mind recover, you unintentionally keep reopening it. MCT helps you stop feeding the cycle so your mind can regulate itself the way it’s meant to.
You can do nothing
And let the thoughtsbe there—or not
A core skill in MCT is Detached Mindfulness — learning to let thoughts exist without reacting to them. Instead of arguing with them, judging them, or spiraling into worry, you simply notice them and allow them to pass. The goal isn’t to get rid of thoughts — trying to do that is still engaging with them.
Detached mindfulness is the opposite: a moment of non-engagement. A thought shows up, and you don’t have to solve it, answer it, or get rid of it. Over time, thoughts lose urgency — not because they disappear, but because you stop treating them like emergencies.
Train your attention
Without forcing thoughtsto go away
Your thoughts may show up on their own — but your focus doesn’t have to follow. In MCT, attention training helps you treat focus like a muscle, shifting it away from unhelpful thoughts without fighting them. It’s not about blocking thoughts, but choosing where your mind goes next.
With practice, you learn to redirect your attention to whatever it is you would like to be doing in that moment — and your mind stops noticing every thought that appears. You’re not forcing them away; you’re simply not attending to them. And without your attention, they lose power on their own.
Ready to stop overthinking?
You don’t have to stay stuck in mental loops forever. With the right skills, you can quiet the noise without having to control every thought that passes through your mind.
Schedule a free phone consultation today to see if Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) is the a good fit for you.