Mentalization-based therapies

Clinical work as a psychoanalyst working with adults and children directly informed Fonagy’s concern with mentalizing, which grew out of technical innovations in ‘developmental help’ offered at the Anna Freud Centre. In turn, the theory developed by Fonagy and colleagues fed into the emergence of mentalization-based therapy (MBT) as a treatment modality. Initially, in the 1990s, the target of this intervention was patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, MBT has subsequently been used with patients facing a variety of mental health symptoms, including common symptoms like anxiety and depression. This chapter will describe the development of MBT over time, including variants such as dynamic interpersonal therapy (DIT). We will also consider some remaining questions about MBT, including the potential for MBT to harm some groups of patients.