Metacognitive reflection and insight therapy in an inpatient setting: Transforming messianism to a coherent mission

Metacognitive reflection and insight therapy (MERIT) is an integrative form of psychotherapy which seeks to help adults with serious mental illness make sense of the psychosocial challenges and possibilities they face and decide how to respond to them and direct their own recovery. In this article, we present an adaptation of MERIT to the context of an inpatient ward with an accompanied case illustration. Specifically, we describe how this approach is supported by a broad intersubjective framework, followed by a presentation of processes and contents of the treatment. Special attention is given to the concurrent improvements in reflective abilities and overall well-being of the patient. The unique role that psychotherapy in general, and approaches that emphasize reflective processes in particular, play during acute crises in an inpatient setting is discussed.