The quest for tailored treatments: a meta-discussion of six social cognitive therapies

In this commentary on the 6 articles comprising this In Session issue on metacognition and mentalizing in the psychotherapeutic treatment of severe mental disorders, we strive to contextualize and bring together salient issues reflected in these articles. In the foreground of our discussion is the point that the commonalities of these and related social cognitive treatments far outweigh their differences. We attempt to pinpoint some of the more specific tailored treatment elements described by the authors and relate these to empirical findings and theoretical and practical problems. Among the key issues addressed in this commentary are conceptual fallacies, therapist transparency, personality disorder and self-harm in adolescence, therapeutic alliance, and a metacognitive-informed group psychotherapy practice for patients with avoidant personality disorder or alexithymia.