Abstract
This study investigated the structure of mentalization (Bateman & Fonagy, 2012) in a training context. The dual purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of practicum student training and whether the Linguistic Inquiry method (Pennebaker, 2000) could be used to evaluate the three dimensions of mentalization — relational, cognitive, and emotional. The training utilized the groups and their accounts as devices and mediators to conceptualize the relationship between self-mentalizing training, the academic context and the practicum experience. Accounts from 38 Italian students pursuing master degree in Clinical, Dynamic, and Community Psychology were analyzed by LIWC software. The Wilcoxon test showed a significant increase in mentalizing words during the middle and end of the term, as compared with the beginning. The results displayed a need to promote mentalization within academic settings and indicated the value of this competence for clinical psychology.
Highlights
Recent studies on training and assessment of psychological competence within the well-known competence movement (Rodolfa et al, 2005) highlight a reflective feature of competence: a competent performance is only possible with reflective and critical behavior, which allows individuals to understand when, where, and how to arrange and move their own resources.Pursuant with the international clinical psychology training debate (Spruill et al, 2004), we believe that reflective competence is a transverse competence, but that it is a core competence (Schweitzer et al, 2014)
If the trainees enact these emotional processes and are able to recognize and elaborate upon them with reflective thinking, these dynamics can become a functional resource for the education of clinical psychologists
Studying to be a clinical psychologist necessitates learning skills for clinical assessment and intervention, as well as acquiring reflective competences. These reflective competences are an integral part of the university training relationship, in which a student will be able to effectively put these skills to use in future work scenarios
Summary
Recent studies on training and assessment of psychological competence within the well-known competence movement (Rodolfa et al, 2005) highlight a reflective feature of competence: a competent performance is only possible with reflective and critical behavior, which allows individuals to understand when, where, and how to arrange and move their own resources.Pursuant with the international clinical psychology training debate (Spruill et al, 2004), we believe that reflective competence is a transverse competence, but that it is a core competence (Schweitzer et al, 2014). It is well known that this transversal university training-processes aims to encourage the development of reflective and methodological competences to teach reflective practice in clinical training (Burgess, Rhodes, & Wilson, 2013). If the trainees enact these emotional processes and are able to recognize and elaborate upon them with reflective thinking, these dynamics can become a functional resource for the education of clinical psychologists. Studying to be a clinical psychologist necessitates learning skills for clinical assessment and intervention, as well as acquiring reflective competences. These reflective competences are an integral part of the university training relationship, in which a student will be able to effectively put these skills to use in future work scenarios
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