Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) Delivered Virtually During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Illustration of Two Cases.

Abstract

Alternative platform offerings for psychotherapy have become a necessity in the age of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The current study describes the virtual adaptation of Metacognitive Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT) for people with psychosis. MERIT is a recovery-oriented psychotherapy that has shown promise in increasing metacognition and allowing individuals to make meaning of their psychiatric challenges and direct their own recovery efforts. MERIT delivery requires the assumption that metacognitive reflection is an intersubjective act where individuals make meaning with others instead of in isolation. As such, considering the current COVID-19 pandemic, research is needed to understand how intersubjectivity and the therapeutic alliance may differ in a virtual environment rather than in-person. The present study addresses this question by illustrating two case examples of MERIT's adaptation to a virtual delivery telehealth format. Moreover, this study expands on Lysaker and colleagues' (2020) investigation of virtual adaptations of MERIT by exploring how MERIT is adapted in a virtual environment, how intersubjectivity changes in a virtual environment, and, what opportunities virtual platforms allow for metacognitive reflection. Overall, we found that MERIT can be successfully delivered in a virtual telehealth platform. We discuss opportunities and considerations for MERIT and other psychotherapy virtual delivery.