Mentalizing in Clinical Practice

by Jon G. Allen, Peter Fonagy, Anthony Bateman

Mentalizing the fundamental human capacity to understand behavior in relation to mental states such as thoughts and feelings is the basis of healthy relationships and self-awareness. Mentalizing in Clinical Practice distills the burgeoning literature on mentalizing for clinicians of diverse professional backgrounds. As growing evidence supports the effectiveness of mentalizing-focused interventions in the treatment of borderline personality disorder, this volume seeks to explore even wider applications in trauma treatment, parent-child therapy, psychoeducation, and violence prevention in social systems. Part I, Understanding Mentalizing, fully explicates the concept of mentalizing and its foundations in developmental research and social-cognitive neuroscience; Part II, Practicing Mentalizing, presents the general principles of psychotherapeutic interventions that promote mentalizing as well as a range of current clinical applications. The book includes a straightforward explanation clinicians can use with patients, What is Mentalizing and Why Do It? and also demonstrates the ways in which clinicians are already doing it. The authors reason that if the effectiveness of treatment depends on therapists mentalizing and helping their patients do so more consistently and skillfully, clinicians of all persuasions can benefit from the extensive knowledge now available to hone further their attention to this vital therapeutic process.

Genres: Psychology

433 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2008

About the author

Jon G. Allen, Ph.D., holds the position of Clinical Professor as a member of the Voluntary Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Baylor College of Medicine. He is a member of the honorary faculty at the Houston Center for Psychoanalytic Studies and the adjunct faculty of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. He retired from clinical practice as a senior staff psychologist after 40 years at The Menninger Clinic, where he taught and supervised fellows and residents; conducted psychotherapy, diagnostic consultations, and psychoeducational programs; and led research on clinical outcomes. He continues to teach, write, and consult.

Reviews

[Barbor Ka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important and interesting. However there were a lot of filibuster repetitive passages that felt like going in circles and rather confused the topic more than explained it.
But it might just be my impatience with texts struggling to cut to the chase.

Other than that, this book opens a new window through which you can view human interactions in and outside of psychotherapy setting.

[Can Uğurpala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bana kalırsa çok sık aynı şeyleri tekrar etmiş.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully well organized and thoughtful. Puts together current developmental science and neuropsychological understanding to support a unifying vision of how psychotherapists of all sorts can do their work effectively.

[Rod White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful, readable explication of a somewhat esoteric concept designed to serve as an umbrella for the basic activity that results in mature humanity. Very useful.