Efficacy of Metacognitive Therapy for Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Abstract

Background: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is considered as one of the most commonly reported disorder. Its prevalence rate is 1.1 to 1.8% (APA, 2013). It is characterized by persistent thoughts or urges that may lead to compulsions (Kring, Johnson, Davison and Neale, 2008). Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) comes under the umbrella of Cognitive Therapies (CT) and it was based on metacognitive model developed by Wells (1997).

Objectives: The present study aimed to develop a therapy protocol based on MCT and to investigate the efficacy of Metacognitive Therapy for the patients of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Method: With the help of purposive sampling, participants diagnosed with OCD according to the DSM-IV-TR and who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were selected for the study. Four participants (men=2, women=2) participated in the study. Assessment was carried out at pre and post-treatment levels. Symptom Checklist-Revised [(SCL-R):Rahman, Dawood, Rehman, Mansoor, & Ali, 2009] was used for the purpose of screening and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms Checklist [(OCSC); Jabeen & Kausar, 2010)] was used to assess symptoms of OCD. Treatment sessions were conducted with the participants based on the therapy protocol developed by the researchers. Pre and post-treatment assessment was done to find out the outcome of sessions been conducted with the participants.

Results: Participants receiving treatment sessions based on MCT showed significant reduction in their symptoms on subscales of depression (p=.05), anxiety (p=.05), OCD (p=.05), obsessions (p=.05) and compulsions (p=.05) at the end of therapy.

Conclusion: The MCT was proved an effective mode of psychotherapy in reducing symptoms of OCD.