Mentalization of conflicts in group therapy: Destructivity and survival in the benefit of cohesion
The high prevalence of personality disorders, along with their substantial functional impact, are important societal issues, which must be addressed by mental health services. Many treatments have shown significant benefits and have contributed to alleviate the difficulties tied to these disorders. Mentalization-based therapy (MBT), which is constituted of a group therapy modality, is an evidence-based treatment of borderline personality disorder. The mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) modality raises many challenges for the psychotherapists. The effectiveness of the group intervention lies, according to the authors, in the capacity to support the mentalizing stance, to stimulate group cohesion, and allows the experience of a healthy and healing process of reappropriation of conflictual situations, situations which, in their opinion, are underutilized in this type of therapeutic process. This article focuses on the interventions that foster a mentalizing attitude. Specifically, we discuss how to focus on the “here and now,” how to identify and resolve conflictual situations and how to enhance metacognitions and, hence, group cohesion, while aiming to bonify the therapeutic process.