Mentalisation Based Therapy

Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT) is most effective in the treatment of personality disorders, eating disorders, depression, trauma, and substance misuse, and is one of the main evidence-based treatments for borderline personality disorder.

What is MBT?

Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT) is an attachment based therapy that focuses on developing an individual’s ability to recognise thoughts, feelings, wishes and desires and understand how they might be linked to behaviour.
The main focus of MBT is to improve your ability to ‘mentalise’ – understand what is in your own mind and in other people’s minds in terms of intentional mental states – to help you to develop healthy and fulfilling relationships.
If you suffer from long-term difficulties in relationships, have difficulty in reading other people’s responses, or experience intense emotional distress and overwhelming feelings which can result in harmful behaviours, then MBT might be the right therapy for you.

How does it work and is it effective?

A typical 50 minute MBT session would involve:

  • Your therapist focusing on the present rather than the past and working to enhance your ability to understand relationships and what happens in other people’s minds.
  • You will likely be asked to ‘stop and think’ particularly if you become emotionally activated by a situation or interaction. This strategy is utilised because intense emotions usually interfere with an individual’s ability to mentalise in the moment.
  • In MBT your therapist will be asking you questions about your thinking and about how your thoughts relate to your behaviour. They will not usually offer you advice or an opinion.
  • The aim of the therapy is to help you explore your internal states and develop new ways of mentalising, and there is a focus on the interaction between client and therapist.
  • Therapy usually tends to last 12 – 18 months
  • Evidence from MBT across the various diagnoses as a whole suggests it facilitates good outcomes. Clinical trials have shown that mentalization-based therapy is a particularly effective treatment for borderline personality disorder, with symptom improvement sustained years after the end of treatment.

Online therapy – the MBT approach

At My Online Therapy, we have several highly qualified psychologists who are experienced in delivering Mentalisation Based Therapy. They can also bring this therapy to you within the comfort of your own home or office through our online platform that has been developed exclusively for the delivery of psychological therapy in a convenient and accessible way.