Mentalización en psicoterapia: Discusión sobre lo explícito e implícito de la relación terapéutica

Abstract

The capacity for mentalizing is a developmental achievement and its quality is influenced by the early relationships with attachment figures. Mentalizing plays a central role in psychotherapy, both as a mental activity of therapist and patient, as well as in the task of promoting the development of this capacity in patients who lack it. In this work the usefulness of mentalizing for psychotherapy is described, emphasizing the activity of the therapist in the generation of mentalizing in the patient, but the mechanisms of integration between the explicit and implicit of this process are discussed. I propose that while explicit mentalizing can change according to therapist degree of training, implicit mentalizing depends much more on the therapist's amplitude of consciousness (mindfulness) about his mental states and his ability to express and bring these mental states into psychotherapy. © 2011 Sociedad Chilena de Psicología Clínica.