Metacognitive Therapy: Exploring The Nature of Thought

Metacognition means “thinking about thinking.”

It’s essentially introspection into the nature of one’s mind. A question that has likely been around since the dawn of man’s ability to think, included the oldest philosophers who wondered…”Who am I?” or “What is a mind?” or “What are thoughts?”

Today, psychologists are beginning to apply the principles of metacognition to mental health. Metacognitive therapy (MCT) is a newly growing form of therapy that explores how we view our thoughts, and our beliefs about how the mind works.

This approach is deeper than typical cognitive-behavioral techniques (such as cognitive restructuring or “reframing”), which focus on how to identify thought patterns and change thought patterns.

But instead of trying to change our thoughts, metacognitive therapy asks us to explore the nature of thought itself, with the goal of understanding how our minds actually work.

In this article, I am going to describe key principles behind metacognition and better understanding how your mind works.

Metacognition: Core Principles

Here are important insights into how our minds work. Understanding these core principles can help us better manage our thoughts and mental health.

1. You don’t control every thought you have

One key insight to understand about your mind is that you don’t control every thought you have.

In fact, most psychology research agrees that a majority of our thinking (about 80%) is done automatically or unconsciously, without us paying much attention to it or participating with it. Our minds wander, reminisce, imagine, daydream, and ruminate all the time during our waking hours.

If you’ve ever tried meditation then you know firsthand that you aren’t in very much control of what goes on in your mind. Thoughts pop up for no reason. That’s just what thoughts do sometimes.

Letting go of the need for complete control over your thinking is important, because it teaches you that you don’t need to beat yourself up over every thought or feeling. It gives you permission to accept your thoughts without feeling obligated to change them.

In metacognitive therapy, this is referred to as “detached mindfulness.” It’s accepting your thoughts, without clinging to them or taking them too seriously.

Of course, that 20% of the time where we do engage in conscious thinking is important too. It’s in those moments where we can exercise some power over our thinking and try to change long-term patterns. This is the basis of traditional cognitive therapies.

But overall, you should accept that your control over your thoughts are limited, because there’s a power in letting go of the responsibility to monitor every single thought you have.

2. Thoughts are impermanent

The next key insight to understand about your mind is that your thoughts are impermanent.

Just as thoughts pop up for no reason, so too do they decay and disappear. One train of thought leads to a whole new train of thought. The mind goes on tangents. We forget what we were just thinking of; and before we know it, our mind is somewhere else.

Recognizing the impermanence of thoughts is essential. It teaches you that you don’t have to do anything with any particular thought, because it will eventually pass. The popular mantra “this too shall pass” is something I commonly recite to myself whenever I find myself going through any type of negative thought, feeling, or experience.

Because if you are patient enough, you can let any thought or feeling pass without feeding it any unnecessary energy.

Metaphors are a great way to describe the mind. A couple of my favorite metaphors for thinking are…

• Water flowing down a river. “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus
• Clouds passing in the sky. Watch as your thoughts change size and shape and notice how they can be interpreted in multiple ways.

Both are metaphors for impermanence. Just as clouds are continuously passing us by, or water is continuously passing us by in a river, so too are our thoughts constantly flowing and in motion.

If you can accept this nature of your mind, you will find it easier to “let go” of negative thoughts and not let them have too much power over you. Just let them pass.

3. The mind is a brainstorming machine

One important aspect of metacognitive therapy is understanding why thinking exists in the first place.

From an evolutionary perspective, the purpose of thinking is to better understand our world and adapt to our environment. The power of thought is ultimately what led to advancements in tools, technology, science, and medicine. Without thinking, we certainly wouldn’t be as advanced as we are today.

Our minds are brainstorming machines that are always looking for ways to improve or solve problems.

This is also where a lot of rumination comes from in those who are depressed or anxious. Their minds are trying to reflect on the problems in their lives and ultimately come up with solutions.

Even in dreams, our minds are playing with ideas, building new associations, and acting out hypothetical scenarios. All for the purpose of better learning and understanding.

Understanding this nature of our minds, it is important that we let it run wild sometimes, even daydreaming has mental benefits for creativity and problem-solving.

Give your mind permission to wander and roam.

There are also exercises we can do to channel our mind-wandering in a constructive way, such as a brain drain exercise, where we write down literally every thought that comes to our mind within a 10-15 minute time frame, or a worry marathon, where we let our minds worry as much as they want for a scheduled period of time.

These are both exercises that allow our minds to “run wild” in a safe and healthy way.

4. You are not your thoughts – but the observer

The last key insight I really want to highlight is: you are not your thoughts.

I often think of the mind as a “suggestion box,” where I have the power to vote “Yes” or “No” to any individual thought that comes up. The most important thing is that I’m in charge of how I respond to my thoughts, my thoughts are not in charge.

We typically think of “free will” as the ability to have complete freedom over what we think and do, but the concept of “free won’t” is more accurate to how the mind works.

The mind throws out a bunch of ideas, then you choose from those options how you want to move forward. And you can always say “No” to your current thoughts, then sit and wait for the next one (keeping in mind the lesson of impermanence).

“Free won’t” is where our real power of choice comes from.

This is related to the “two-stage model of free will,” where stage one is random thoughts popping up, and stage two is choosing which to act on. This theory was first conceived by psychologist William James, and has since been echoed by other prominent thinkers such as Daniel Dennett and Karl Popper (you can read more about it here if you’re interested in philosophy).

One powerful exercise that illustrates this idea is the mindbus technique, where you imagine you are the driver of a bus, and the passengers are individual thoughts with different personalities that you imagine “dropping off” at their proper destinations.

This exercise illustrates the central lesson behind all metacognition: you are not your thoughts, but the observer of your thoughts.

Conclusion

These principles of metacognition are important to keep in mind. They not only teach you how your mind actually works, but they build a deeper foundation for other forms of cognitive therapy and cognitive restructuring.

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