Minding Emotions: Cultivating Mentalization in Psychotherapy

by Elliot L. Jurist

Mentalization--the effort to make sense of our own and others' actions, behavior, and internal states--is something we all do. And it is a capacity that all psychotherapies aim to the better we are at mentalizing, the more resilient and flexible we tend to be. This concise, engaging book offers a brief overview of mentalization in psychotherapy, focusing on how to help patients understand and reflect on their emotional experiences. Elliot Jurist integrates cognitive science research and psychoanalytic theory to break down "mentalized affectivity" into discrete processes that therapists can cultivate in session. The book interweaves clinical vignettes with discussions of memoirs by comedian Sarah Silverman, poet Tracy Smith, filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, and neurologist Oliver Sacks. A reproducible assessment instrument (the Mentalized Affectivity Scale) can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

Winner--American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis Book Prize (Theory)

200 pages, Hardcover

Published April 9, 2018

Reviews

[Vicente González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremendísimo libro, gran parte del contenido me hizo sentido para el quehacer Clínico. Me parece fundamental que colegas se aperturen al trabajo de la mentalización. Muy recomendado.

[Matias · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro presenta una propuesta que el autor va desarrollando conforme nos va introduciendo diferentes aspectos poco a poco en cada capítulo, desde una mirada multidisciplinaria donde se destaca la filosofía, el psicoanálisis, las neurociencias y la psicología clínica.

Contiene una gran cantidad de viñetas clínicas que intentan ilustrar de mejor manera algunos elementos explicados. Es de este mismo modo, que al llegar al concepto de la “afectividad mentalizada”, se utiliza una historia autobiográfica extensa para profundizar en el carácter transformacional y el impacto significativo que tiene en la vida de una persona, mentalizar sus emociones de manera más efectiva.

Aunque no esté de acuerdo en algunos (pocos) puntos de vista con el autor, la calidad del contenido del libro no deja de ser notable. Se nota el manejo e influencia filosófica y científica del autor a la hora de presentar y abordar temáticas, así como en la redacción.

Lo recomiendo para aquellos psicoterapeutas interesados en la Teoría de la Mentalización de Fonagy y compañía, en las miradas multidisciplinarias y en el diálogo existente entre ciencia y psicoterapia.

[Tatiana Bogacheva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good.

I was lured into reading it by author's claim that it is necessary to look at emotions and so on at the times when our rulers are narcissistic psychopaths that he voices in New Books Podcast. However, the book does not deliver on its promise.

The examples of his patients who clearly come from different backgrounds are piled together in each chapter and, although the class difference is acknowledged in each case when the scene is being set, it is dismissed when the author makes broader conclusions about the therapeutic practice.

I have not idea what the book might mean for a therapist (that is for a small fraction of population) but for a lay woman like myself, who is turning to different fields in order to make sense of world, this book is a SHAM.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the last several chapters of this book but it was really hard to get thru.

[Víctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to read for the layman, but the interdisciplinary approach is interesting.