Can behavioural therapy support mentalization? : For what reason?

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Interest in developmental psychology arose in behavioral therapy as early as 1994. This resulted in strategic short-term therapy and strategic-behavioral therapy SBT, based on Jean Piaget and Robert Kegan: “Only behavior that has already been developed can be modified through learning!” The top priority is therefore to promote development. Later, James McCullough also took up developmental support in behavioral therapy. However, the most comprehensive reorientation came from the psychoanalytic side: the mentalization-based approach of Peter Fonagy and his working group, which saw attachment theory as the absolute primary basis: “Without secure attachment, no mentalization and no successful affect regulation!” These two aspects became the cornerstones of the 2021 for the first time published mentalization-promoting behavioral therapy MVT, which made secure attachment and development of mentalization into a therapeutic concept with the aim of enabling affect regulation. In this article, the scientific background and the embedding in the current state of research are presented, in order to then move from the MVT disorder theory to the therapy theory and the therapy approach, operationalized through seven therapy modules: secure attachment, from the dysfunctional survival rule to the permission-giving rule of life, mindfulness and Acceptance, finding your feelings with emotion tracking, conversation that promotes mentalization, development from the affective to the thinking level with the aim of self-efficacy and development from the thinking to the empathy level - with example dialogues.