Mentalization-Based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder

Status: Modest Research Support

Description

Mentalizing is the process by which we make sense of each other and ourselves, implicitly and explicitly, in terms of subjective states and mental processes. Patients with BPD show reduced capacities to mentalize, which leads to problems with emotional regulation and difficulties in managing impulsivity, especially in the context of interpersonal interactions. Mentalization based treatment (MBT) is a time-limited treatment which structures interventions that promote the further development of mentalizing.

Key References (in reverse chronological order)

Bateman, A., & Fonagy, P. (2009). Randomized controlled trial of outpatient mentalization-based treatment versus structured clinical management for borderline personality disorder. American journal of Psychiatry, 166, 1355-64.

Bateman, A., Psych, F. R. C., Fonagy, P., & D, P. (2008). 8-Year Follow-Up of Patients Treated for Borderline Personality Disorder?: Mentalization-Based Treatment Versus Treatment as Usual, 2008, 1-7.

Bateman, a, & Fonagy, P. (2001). Treatment of borderline personality disorder with psychoanalytically oriented partial hospitalization: an 18-month follow-up. American journal of Psychiatry, 158, 36-42.

Clinical Resources

Bateman, A. & Fonagy, P. (2006). Mentalization-based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Practical Guide. Oxford University Press.

Allen, J.G. & Fonagy, P. (2006). The Handbook of Mentalization-Based Treatment. John Wiley & Sons, West Sussex, England.

Training Opportunities

Information on training and workshops can be found through the Anna Freud Centre.