Thank you so much for this ! Currently on my doctorate for counselling psych writing a paper trying to get my head around it ! So fascinating and it now makes sense !
Hi Jasmine, I write from first-hand experience in the mentioned therapy models as a patient with borderline and early childhood trauma (sexual abuse). To answer, I would say yes, mentalization can provide increased tools for integrating self. Still, I would say it works a bit differently than the internal family systems model and trauma modalities. I began in trauma therapies, which operated mainly with somatic integration, getting my body and stress response into a more workable conscious awareness. Specifically, I worked in a form of EDMR known as brain spotting for a year. Then I found I could have more of me online, though not yet integrated. I then worked for a year with an IFS therapist. I think this allowed me to target parts and learn to connect, and learn to trust myself more and my experience. I now have been with a therapist who does MBT, and I see it as working very consciously with cognition work and mentalizing myself in the context of others (and my life’s events). It may be hard to describe, but I see that simply, yes, MBT has helped me achieve integration. Still, without the steps I took through the different other modalities, I feel I wouldn’t be as capable of being conscious and present for the MBT work and for the type of treatment and therapy to stay as a lasting transformative therapy. I have learned to increasingly mentalize myself in the context of others and my experiences that I lacked before MBT. Before the treatment, I was primarily in splits and experiencing a lack of integration and lower conscious awareness around relational interactions. I had a therapist say I was able to graduate to MBT. I am sure others and other analysts may have different perspectives, but this is mine from first-hand experience. I think all kinds of modalities have had their positive and lasting transformation on my conditions. I realized while in IFS treatment specifically, I came to a point after about a year of seeing this therapist every week that I acquired enough tools to mentalize internally. Still, I needed help mentalizing in connection with actual people outside me. I could talk to the parts till the cows came home, meaning endlessly. Still, it took the cognitive work or “graduation,” as I mentioned, to really apply some more higher cognition to bring about workable behavioral and relational changes in my life. I understand the concept IFS lays out of self-leadership, which is supposed to ripple out in your real-world relationships. But for me, I found the inner work done in IFS, which I consider somatic work, didn’t easily translate until I got real-world “invitro” assistance through MBT and transference-focused psychotherapy. Others may disagree, but I see all these modalities are forms of mentalizing but the specifics of MBT in targeting actual self/other relational understanding and work in the arena of higher capacity contextual understanding is a unique and very beneficial model of therapy that has helped me experience more integration. I hope this helps you understand.
Thank you so much for this ! Currently on my doctorate for counselling psych writing a paper trying to get my head around it ! So fascinating and it now makes sense !
Does MBT achieve integration of the parts of Self? How is it different from internal family systems therapy and shadow/trauma work?
Hi Jasmine,
I write from first-hand experience in the mentioned therapy models as a patient with borderline and early childhood trauma (sexual abuse). To answer, I would say yes, mentalization can provide increased tools for integrating self. Still, I would say it works a bit differently than the internal family systems model and trauma modalities. I began in trauma therapies, which operated mainly with somatic integration, getting my body and stress response into a more workable conscious awareness. Specifically, I worked in a form of EDMR known as brain spotting for a year. Then I found I could have more of me online, though not yet integrated. I then worked for a year with an IFS therapist. I think this allowed me to target parts and learn to connect, and learn to trust myself more and my experience. I now have been with a therapist who does MBT, and I see it as working very consciously with cognition work and mentalizing myself in the context of others (and my life’s events). It may be hard to describe, but I see that simply, yes, MBT has helped me achieve integration. Still, without the steps I took through the different other modalities, I feel I wouldn’t be as capable of being conscious and present for the MBT work and for the type of treatment and therapy to stay as a lasting transformative therapy. I have learned to increasingly mentalize myself in the context of others and my experiences that I lacked before MBT. Before the treatment, I was primarily in splits and experiencing a lack of integration and lower conscious awareness around relational interactions.
I had a therapist say I was able to graduate to MBT. I am sure others and other analysts may have different perspectives, but this is mine from first-hand experience. I think all kinds of modalities have had their positive and lasting transformation on my conditions. I realized while in IFS treatment specifically, I came to a point after about a year of seeing this therapist every week that I acquired enough tools to mentalize internally. Still, I needed help mentalizing in connection with actual people outside me. I could talk to the parts till the cows came home, meaning endlessly. Still, it took the cognitive work or “graduation,” as I mentioned, to really apply some more higher cognition to bring about workable behavioral and relational changes in my life.
I understand the concept IFS lays out of self-leadership, which is supposed to ripple out in your real-world relationships. But for me, I found the inner work done in IFS, which I consider somatic work, didn’t easily translate until I got real-world “invitro” assistance through MBT and transference-focused psychotherapy. Others may disagree, but I see all these modalities are forms of mentalizing but the specifics of MBT in targeting actual self/other relational understanding and work in the arena of higher capacity contextual understanding is a unique and very beneficial model of therapy that has helped me experience more integration.
I hope this helps you understand.
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