Mentalizing refers to our ability to perceive and understand our own inner world and that of others. This includes thoughts, feelings, needs and intentions, as well as an awareness of how these inner processes influence our behaviour.

​Transference describes how traces of earlier experiences emerge in new relationships and are, in a sense, “transferred” onto them. This often involves unconscious and sometimes conflicting expectations of ourselves and others. These expectations influence how we perceive other people, the roles we take on, which needs come to the foreground and how we form and experience relationships.

Transference processes can lead us to repeatedly find ourselves in familiar patterns and conflicts. When our capacity to mentalize is limited, we may find it difficult to understand, name and communicate our own feelings, experiences, intentions and thoughts. As a result, both our own behaviour and that of others can become difficult to understand. All of this can contribute to a range of psychological symptoms and forms of distress.
 

In therapy, we explore these connections together. The aim is to better understand feelings, thoughts and behaviour and how they relate to one another—in other words, to mentalize together. At the same time, we pay attention to how familiar patterns may repeat themselves within the therapeutic relationship. This allows them to be explored and changed in the here and now.

 

This collaborative work can help reduce psychological distress and open up new ways of relating to oneself and others that can also become effective beyond therapy.