Mentalisering och terapeutisk allians: Samspelet i ett tidigt skede

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the mentalization ability on the development and experience of early therapeutic alliance, in this case the early alliance that occurs in an interview setting. Research indicates that higher mentalization capacity in the patient is correlated with stronger therapeutic alliance during therapy, but little is known about this relationship early in treatment. The Adult Attachment Interview AAI was conducted with 25 participants within an age range of 19-52. The participants and the interviewers completed a modified version of HAq-II, a self-report measure concerning therapeutic alliance, and were also asked to describe the experience in their own words. The interviews were scored for mentalization according to the Reflective Functioning Manual, version 5. The results showed no influence of mentalization capacity in the participant on the rating of early therapeutic alliance during the interview, neither as rated by the participant nor as rated by the interviewer. However, there was a significant negative correlation between mentalization capacity in the participant and the participant rating on the item regarding sense of trust in the interviewer. When freely describing the experience of the interview, the participants low in mentalization ability emphasized their own perspective while those high in mentalization focused more on the interplay and the interviewer. The interviewers described a more easy-going atmosphere while interacting with participants low in mentalization.