Routledge Minding the Child: Mentalization-Based Interventions with Children, Young People and their Families

What is 'mentalization'? How can this concept be applied to clinical work with children, young people and families? What will help therapists working with children and families to 'keep the mind in mind'? Why does it matter if a parent can 'see themselves from the outside, and their child from the inside'?Minding the Child considers the implications of the concept of mentalization for a range of therapeutic interventions with children and families. Mentalization, and the empirical research which has supported it, now plays a significant role in a range of psychotherapies for adults. In this book we see how these rich ideas about the development of the self and interpersonal relatedness can help to foster the emotional well-being of children and young people in clinical practice and a range of other settings. With contributions from a range of international experts, the three main sections of the book explore:• the concept of mentalization from a theoretical and research perspective• the value of mentalization-based interventions within child mental health services• the application of mentalizing ideas to work in community settings.Minding the Child will be of particular interest to clinicians and those working therapeutically with children and families, but it will also be of interest to academics and students interested in child and adolescent mental health, developmental psychology and the study of social cognition. Review "I recommend this book for readers who enjoy reading about new therapeutic endeavors and the creative re-invention of accepted psychodynamic concepts―in this instance, the concept of mentalization."- Saralea Chazan, Journal of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, June 2013"The book is imbued with respect for different treatment approaches and persepctives but also for the complexity that often characterizes clinical and preventative work. In the projects described the interventions are often combined with research. This is especially inspiring and makes the book even more valuable. It will be important for researchers and clinicians for a long time to come, as a source of both knowledge and inspiration. In a teaching context the book has a broad area of use. It can be used on specialist courses but can also inspire young people, at the beginning of their careers, to work in this field."- Jan - Olov Karlsson, Psychotherapy Research, May 2013"This book, which is well argued and illustrated with coherent clinical material, will give readers new to the field a good insight into a developing body of work." - Eileen Aird, Therapy Today, July 2012"There is much of interest here to the child psychotherapist working with children and adolescents whose limited capacity to tolerate anxiety and frustration gets in the way of thinking and relating... The book is well edited by Nick Midgley and Ioanna Vrouva, with individual chapters referring to each other and building up to a carefully crafted whole." - Neil Austin, ACP Bulletin, Winter 2012Contributions from an impressive list of the key international researchers in this field. The book is written and edited in a style that constantly flows between theoretical understanding and practice, across different types of problems and settings. Even if practitioners use different approaches (which, in any case, are considered as complementary by several participating authors), they will gain interesting techniques in engaging, assessing and treating young people and families who have not responded to mainstream programmes. They can also use those to challenge and influence community, school and hospital systems; and also their own multidisciplinary team working, as presented in the final part of the manuscript. - Panos Vostanis, Child Adolescent Mental Health, 2013I found this book to be powerful and thought provoking, to the extent that it pervaded my everyday thinking. ... In the book, MBT is considered a useful tool for all psychot