Mentalization-Based Treatment for Personality Disorders

Abstract This practical guide on mentalization-based treatment (MBT) of personality disorders outlines the mentalizing model of borderline and antisocial personality disorders and how it translates into clinical treatment. Mentalizing, the ability to understand oneself and others by inferring mental states that lie behind overt behavior, develops within the context of attachment relationships. It is crucial to self-regulation and constructive, intimate relationships, both of which are impaired in personality disorders because of proneness to losing mentalizing at times of anxiety and attachment stress. Loss of mentalizing leads to interpersonal and social problems, emotional variability, impulsivity,…