How does Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) differ from standard CBT in addressing worry?

• A. MCT focuses on the content of thoughts as CBT does.
• B. MCT ignores worries altogether.
• C. MCT relies on behavioral activation rather than thinking processes.
• D. MCT targets meta-beliefs about thinking processes and uses techniques focused on changing beliefs about thinking rather than content.

Answer: (D)

The core idea is that Metacognitive Therapy targets beliefs about thinking itself, not the content of the thoughts. In MCT, worry is seen as being maintained by meta-beliefs about thinking—for example, that worrying is uncontrollable, dangerous, or useful for preventing bad outcomes. The therapy then works to change these meta-beliefs and how a person relates to their thoughts, using techniques like detached mindfulness and attention-training to reduce engagement with the worry stream. This shifts the focus from disputing what thoughts say (the content) to altering how people think about thinking and how they respond to their thoughts.

Standard CBT, by contrast, concentrates on the content of worries—challenging distorted interpretations, re-evaluating threat appraisals, and using behavioral experiments to test beliefs. So the distinguishing feature is not ignoring worries or relying on behavior alone; it’s the move from changing thoughts' content to changing beliefs about the thinking processes themselves.