Responding to mentalization invitations in psychotherapy sessions—A conversation analysis approach

Abstract

Objective: Increase in the capacity to mentalize has been proposed to be an important mechanism of change in psychotherapy. However, mentalization has primarily been studied as an individual skill that people either possess or lack, rather than as an interactional phenomenon. Method: In this study, excerpts from three different sessions in a therapy that aimed at increasing the patients mentalizing capacity were identified and studied using conversation analysis. Results: The analysis indicated that resistance to mentalizing may not only be due to lack of capacity but also may be seen as a linguistic resource in which this resistance demonstrates precisely the ability to mentalize. Conclusions: Consequences for psychotherapy practice and process research are discussed.