MBT for children and families

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Midgley, Ensink, Lindqvist · 2012

What it is

MBT-C is a play-based, time-limited treatment for children aged about 5–12 with emotional, behavioural or relational problems, together with their parents. It is indicated by impaired mentalizing rather than by diagnosis. The 2017 book presents it as a clinical guide, not a fully evaluated manual.…

Format

• Supervision is built in at assessment, at formulation and focus, for monitoring the therapist's position, at the mid-treatment review, at outcome evaluation, and as external supervision. Session length during treatment blocks is.
• MBT-F has no fixed session count or formal phase model. The 2021 chapter order implies a working sequence:

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Core idea of change. Problems are maintained when mentalizing breaks down under arousal. Both versions try to restart a stalled developmental process rather than produce insight into origins. MBT-C rebuilds the child's three "building blocks": attention regulation, affect regulation and explicit mentalizing. It also strengthens parents' capacity to see their child as a separate mind. MBT-F slows family interactions…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• guilt flooding the parent. Validate before you explore.
• scans used as accusations. Reinforce the playful frame.
• an enactment that becomes the real fight. Pause earlier.
• limits used as punishment or delivered in your own anger.
• extension driven by therapist anxiety rather than by goals.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.