Loss of mentalizing leads to interpersonal and social problems, emotional variability, impulsivity, self-destructive behaviours, and violence. This practical guide on MBT treatment of personality disorders outlines the mentalizing model of borderline and antisocial personality disorders and how it translates into an effective clinical treatment.

• 1. The mentalizing framework


• 1.: What is mentalizing?


• 2.: Using the mentalizing model to understand personality disorder


• 3.: Comorbidity


• 4.: Fonagy: Assessment of mentalizing


• 2. Mentalizing practice


• 5.: Structure of mentalization-based treatment


• 6.: Clinician stance


• 7.: Principles for the mentalizing clinician


• 8.: The mentalizing focus: support, empathy and validation


• 9.: The mentalizing focus: clarification, affect elaboration, affect focus and challenge


• 10.: Relational focus of mentalizing: transference tracers and mentalizing the relationship


• 3. Mentalizing groups


• 11.: MBT-Introductory group (MBT-I)


• 12.: Mentalizing group therapy


• 13.: Antisocial personality disorder: mentalizing, MBT-G and common clinical problems


• 4. Mentalizing systems


• 14.: Mentalizing and families: the Families and Carers Training and Support programme (FACTS)


• 15.: Mentalizing the system

Anthony Bateman - Expert member of National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) development group for treatment guidelines for Borderline Personality Disorder in UK; currently Chair of the National Guideline Development Group for Eating Disorders. NHS clinical services are recognised by NHS England as a national demonstration site for the treatment of personality disorder. President of the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders (ESSPD) from 2012-2015.
Authored 14 books and over 120 peer reviewed research articles on personality disorder and the use of psychotherapy in psychiatric practice. Received a senior scientist award from British and Irish group for the Study of Personality Disorder in 2012 and in 2015 the annual award for "Achievement in the Field of Severe Personality Disorders" from the BPDRC in the USA.
Peter Fonagy - OBE, FMedSci, FBA, PhD is Head of the Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology and Freud Memorial Professor of Psychoanalysis at University College London. He is also CEO of the Anna Freud Centre in London and a Senior Investigator of the British National Institute for Health Research. Professor Fonagy is the recipient of numerous prizes, awards and other honours in the United Kingdom, the United States and internationally. He has published 17 books, over 400 original papers, and nearly 250 book chapters