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Chapter 3 - What Is Mentalization-Based Treatment?

from Part II - The Mentalization-Based Treatment Model in Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2023

Anthony Bateman ,
Peter Fonagy ,
Chloe Campbell ,
Patrick Luyten  and
Martin Debbané
Anthony Bateman
Affiliation:
Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, London
Peter Fonagy
Affiliation:
University College London
Chloe Campbell
Affiliation:
University College London
Patrick Luyten
Affiliation:
University College London
Martin Debbané
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

The principles of mentalization-based treatment (MBT) as they are applied in clinical practice are discussed. Both the clinician and the patient need to learn to manage their anxiety, as any stress can potentially undermine the ability to mentalize. This chapter focuses in particular on how to maintain the appropriate balance between attachment anxiety and mentalizing ability. The need for a consistent focus on the patient’s process of mentalizing is emphasized, and the importance of not taking over the patient’s mentalizing or joining in with their low mentalizing is highlighted.

Keywords

anxietyattachmentbalanced mentalizingcollaborationempathic validationprocess and content
Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Guide to Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) , pp. 43 - 51
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Bateman, A, Fonagy, P. Mentalization-Based Treatment for Personality Disorders: A Practical Guide. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Bateman, A, Fonagy, P, eds. Handbook of Mentalizing in Mental Health Practice, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2019.Google Scholar
Gergely, G, Watson, JS. The social biofeedback theory of parental affect-mirroring: the development of emotional self-awareness and self-control in infancy. Int J Psychoanal 1996; 77: 1181–212.Google Scholar

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