Abstract
The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the nonverbal affect attunement in relation to the verbal dialogue in mentalization-based treatment (MBT) for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The therapists’ nonverbal affect attunement documented in five video recorded individual sessions in MBT, with five women, diagnosed with BPD, was analysed with part process analysis, a qualitative method developed for video recorded material. Four categories of nonverbal affect attunement were identified in the results: (1) nonverbal affect attunement that supports the therapeutic process; (2) nonverbal misattunement that supports the therapeutic process; (3) nonverbal misattunement that does not support the therapeutic process; (4) no nonverbal affect attunement that does not support the therapeutic process. The study suggests that making therapists more aware of the significance of nonverbal affect attunement could be supportive in helping patients to develop their ability to regulate affects and develop and stabilize the mentalizing ability.
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