Less Thinking, More Living with Metacognitive Therapy
Therapy provided by an MCTI® Registered Therapist.
Rebates: Registered Medicare Provider. Medicare rebates are available with a valid Mental Health Care Plan and referral.
Access: Secure telehealth appointments available Australia-wide.
Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) is an evidence-based treatment that helps individuals reduce worry, rumination, overthinking, and self-focused attention.
Rather than analysing thoughts, challenging them, or trying to make them disappear, MCT focuses on reducing the thinking patterns that keep emotional distress going.
The aim is to help you spend less time caught in mental struggle and more time living with clarity, flexibility, and greater choice over where your attention goes.
What is Metacognitive Therapy?
Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) is a modern evidence-based treatment developed by Professor Adrian Wells.
MCT starts with a simple idea:
It is not usually the presence of thoughts that causes distress — it is how we respond to them.
Most people experience intrusive thoughts, worries, doubts, memories, and uncomfortable feelings every day.
Difficulties arise when attention becomes trapped in worry, rumination, threat monitoring, and other forms of overthinking.
MCT helps people step out of these patterns and regain flexibility over where their attention goes.
What makes MCT different?
Many therapies focus on the content of thoughts. MCT focuses on the thinking processes that maintain distress.
Some therapies ask: "Is this thought true?"
Metacognitive Therapy asks: "What happens when I keep responding to this thought?"
The goal is not to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. The goal is to reduce the worry, rumination, self-focus, and threat monitoring that keep distress alive.
Areas of Clinical Focus
Metacognitive Therapy Australia focuses on helping people reduce the thinking patterns that drive and maintain psychological distress.
Treatment is available for individuals experiencing:
Generalised Anxiety & Excessive Worry
Depression & Low Mood
Social Anxiety & Performance Anxiety
Health Anxiety & Excessive Health-Related Worry
Stress, Burnout, & Mental Exhaustion
PTSD & Traumatic Stress
Persistent Overthinking & Rumination
Support is also available for individuals navigating self-doubt, chronic indecision, perfectionism, and other patterns of repetitive thinking that can leave people feeling stuck.
Core Skills Taught in MCT
Detached Mindfulness
Learning to refrain from responding to automatic thoughts, feelings, and sensations.
Worry Postponement
Breaking the habit of engaging with worry whenever it occurs.
Attention Training Technique (ATT)
Developing greater flexibility and control over attention.
Modifying Metacognitive Beliefs
Learning to modify beliefs about the usefulness and danger of worry, rumination, and threat monitoring.
MCT Therapy
Sessions are practical, structured, and focused on reducing the thinking patterns that maintain distress.
Treatment identifies the specific mental habits—such as worry, rumination, threat monitoring, and self-focused attention—and the underlying metacognitive beliefs that keep these patterns active. Rather than focusing primarily on the content of thoughts or the past, therapy focuses on developing new ways of responding to thoughts in the present, helping attention become more flexible and reducing the processes that maintain emotional distress.
Therapy is provided by an MCTI® Registered Therapist. Appointments are conducted securely via telehealth and are available Australia-wide.
Why People Seek MCT
Many people arrive at MCT after years of trying to manage their thoughts. They may have spent countless hours analysing worries, searching for certainty, monitoring symptoms, seeking reassurance, or trying to stop unwanted thoughts.
These strategies can feel necessary in the moment, but they often keep attention locked onto the problem and leave people feeling mentally exhausted.
MCT offers a different approach. Rather than trying to control what thoughts or feelings appear, therapy focuses on reducing the responses that keep distress going:
A thought can occur without requiring a response.
A feeling can occur without requiring a response.
No mental manoeuvre is needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a referral?
No. You do not need a referral to access therapy. A Mental Health Care Plan and referral are only required if you wish to claim Medicare rebates.
Are appointments available Australia-wide?
Yes. All appointments are conducted via secure telehealth and are available throughout Australia.
How many sessions will I need?
This varies from person to person. Many people benefit from approximately 8–12 sessions, depending on individual needs.
Does MCT focus on the past?
MCT focuses primarily on the thinking patterns that are maintaining distress in the present.
What if I'm not sure whether MCT is right for me?
You are welcome to make an enquiry. All enquiries are reviewed personally to determine whether Metacognitive Therapy is likely to be a suitable clinical fit.
Fees
Standard Session
$235 per session
55 minute telehealth appointment.
Medicare Rebates
If you have a valid Mental Health Care Plan and referral from your GP or psychiatrist, you may be eligible for a Medicare rebate.
Current Medicare rebate: $87.25, subject to Medicare indexation from 1 July 2026. Current out-of-pocket cost: $147.75.
Private Health Insurance
Private health rebates may be available depending on your level of cover. Please check directly with your insurer.
No Referral Required
You do not need a referral to access therapy.
However, a valid Mental Health Care Plan and referral are required if you wish to claim Medicare rebates.
Suitability
Metacognitive Therapy has been applied to a wide range of psychological difficulties. This practice focuses on anxiety, excessive worry, overthinking, depression, stress, burnout, PTSD, traumatic stress, and related difficulties.
Appointments are available for adults aged 18 years and over.
At this time, appointments are not available for individuals seeking treatment primarily for:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
Psychosis
If you are unsure whether Metacognitive Therapy is likely to be a good fit for your needs, you are welcome to make an enquiry.
Less Thinking. More Living.
The goal is not to eliminate thoughts.
The goal is not to control thoughts or feelings.
The goal is to stop responding to them in ways that keep distress going.
A thought occurs. No response is required.
A feeling occurs. No response is required.
Ready to Get Started?
To learn more about Metacognitive Therapy or to request an appointment, please complete the enquiry form below. All submissions are reviewed to ensure Metacognitive Therapy is a suitable clinical fit before an appointment is offered.
Contact
Metacognitive Therapy Australia
Phone: 0431 756 512
Email: info@metacognitivetherapyaustralia.com.au
Secure telehealth appointments available Australia-wide.