The Origins of Mentalising & Implications for Attachment, Personality & Psychotherapy - Part 3

Canada · CEU points & talks · Psychologists

In the concluding talk of this three-part series, clinical psychologist Dr. Ella Brent examines how disruptions in early attachment relationships can hinder the development of key psychological capacities, including affect regulation, attention control, and mentalising. Building on foundational material presented in Parts 1 and 2, this session focuses on the consequences of insecure attachment in the caregiver-child dyad and how these relational patterns may impair mentalising development.

Through illustrative case examples, Dr. Brent explores how inconsistent, misattuned, or invalidating caregiving may result in maladaptive personality development. The talk outlines the continuum from early relational disruptions to the emergence of personality vulnerabilities and disorders, drawing connections between impaired mentalising and common personality organisation clusters, including borderline, dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, schizoid, and antisocial presentations.

This talk further differentiates Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), developed by Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy, from but aligned with Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), developed by Marsha Linehan. Clinicians will gain practical and theoretical tools to recognise, assess, and respond to clients with impaired mentalisation capacities in both adult and adolescent populations.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this talk, participants will be able to:

• Identify the developmental impact of insecure attachment on mentalising and personality formation

• Describe how early relational experiences contribute to a range of personality organisations

• Distinguish between personality disorder clusters using a mentalisation framework

• Understand the clinical applications of MBT and its relationship to DBT

• Integrate attachment and mentalisation models into assessment and treatment planning

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