Assessment of Mentalization-Based Interventions with School-Age Children

ABSTRACT

A common factor linked to recovery in a variety of psychotherapies is mentalizing, the fundamental human ability to understand oneself and others in terms of intentional mental states, such as feelings, desires, attitudes, and goals. Psychotherapy interventions that promote mentalization are also linked to positive outcomes. The adoption of mentalization-based interventions for children has been somewhat slow, despite their potential. Moreover, when compared to the evidence-base for mentalization-based interventions for infants or adults, middle childhood currently lacks a well-developed body of research supporting mentalization-based interventions. The studies depicted in this paper aim to address this gap, elucidating the kinds of mentalization-based interventions and their assessments that are being conducted at Istanbul Bilgi University Psychotherapy Center. These studies have the aim of not only assessing the effectiveness of mentalization-based interventions with school-age children, but also identifying why and how these interventions work, meaningfully linking clinical process with outcome.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dr. Norka Malberg and the organizing committee of the International Congress on Mentalization-Based Treatment for Children, Adolescents and Families for inviting to me to present the following paper and Dr. Susan Warshaw for the opportunity to contribute to this special addition.

The studies described here were partially supported by Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Project No: 215K180 and 121K733 as well as grants from International Psychoanalytic Association and American Psychoanalytic Association.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The patient and his family provided consent for the use of session materials for academic and research purposes. Identifying information has been changed to protect anonymity.

2. The patient and his family provided consent for the use of session materials for academic and research purposes. Identifying information has been changed to protect anonymity.

3. The patient and his family provided consent for the use of session materials for academic and research purposes. Identifying information has been changed to protect anonymity.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the American Psychoanalytic Association International Psychoanalytical Association Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu .