Mentalisation: Breakthrough in Therapy Approaches

by Claudia Bishop

Recently I have found myself very fascinated with Psychology and the impact of mental health issues on society. Having chosen Psychology for A-levels I thought it was worth exploring this field as a possible career path. My main plug for all things psychology is my mum who often picks up on everything that could ever interest me that has a link to psychology. Last week ,after a long car journey, my mum introduced me to an approach to therapy called “mentalisation” . She then proceeded to buy a massive textbook-looking book with all you could ever want to know about mentalisation.

I have found it all very fascinating and even more so the creator of Mentalisation, Peter Fonagy. He was Hungarian-born and at age 15 his parents sent him to London to study. This was a very lonely time for Fonagy as he couldn't speak a word of English and found himself without any family or friends. He became depressed and suffered from academic difficulties for which he was then referred to a psychoanalyst. This is what eventually led him to becoming an analyst himself. Mentalisation was created in the 80s as he worked with child psychologist George Moran to treat children with diabetes and help them to regulate feelings. To do this he focused on discussing patients inner lives and emotions. He turned this approach towards patients with (BPD) Borderline Personality Disorder. 

This is where Mentalisation first began to find its feet.

On the NHS website, MBT is described as a type of long-term psychotherapy that helps people to make sense of their thoughts, beliefs, wishes and feelings and then to link this to actions and behaviours. Mentalisation based therapy is now developed into a very useful for those suffering with emotional distress and find it difficult to trust others. It consists of the skill of being able to vocalise feelings instead of just letting the emotion affect your behaviour.

The most interesting part of Mentalisation is the analysis of people's behaviour (a field of psychology i would find very insightful). He often visited prisons to talk to the criminals and understand the reason for their behaviour. The nature of mentalisation is such that he would help patients by thinking alongside them and help to reorganise their mind.

Fonagy also investigated attachment between mothers and their children, all of this research has led to a shockingly effective approach to therapy. This sparked a revolution in mental health care for patients suffering with BPD, eating disorders, drug dependency and psychosis.