Volume 26, Issue 3
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2017.1026
Reflective Functioning in Initial Interviews of Psychotherapy: An Exploratory Study about the Role of Mentalizing in the Therapeutic Interaction
Abstract
Mentalizing allows to perceive and to interpret human behavior in terms of mental states. It has been operationalized as Reflective Functioning (RF) for evaluation, and is usually coded from an attachment interview. This study sought to determine types of mentalizing interventions that promote RF responses in the patient in a psychotherapy interview. Thirty interviews were analyzed with the RF scale to identify the therapist's actions associated with the RF in the responses of patients. It was observed that affective and relational questions facilitate a better level of RF in patients. Consideration of mentalization as a dynamic process is discussed and contextualized, and future research with this type of methodological approach is proposed.
Keywords
Mentalizing, reflective functioning, psychotherapy