Mentalization is the ability to understand the mental states of oneself and others, thereby making sense of the intentions, behaviors, and emotional states that come about; this is a particularly relevant skill in the therapeutic context.
A study published in Frontiers in Psychology examined whether (1) the mentalization capacity of clinical psychology students differed from engineering students’, and (2) whether this ability differed between first and last year psychology students. The researchers reported no differences for the latter comparison, however, they found that psychology students provided higher self-reported ratings of mentalization capacity, compared to engineering students.
“My interest in mentalization started when I began therapy training. I realized that the ability to mentalize was an important skill when trying to understand the patient, and to make the patient feel understood. I also discovered research that linked therapist mentalization skills to better outcomes in therapy,” said Steffen André Fagerbakk, a psychologist/PhD-student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
The researchers suggest two possible influences on mentalization skills in psychology students. One possibility is that undergoing clinical training exposes students to interpersonal situations that promote mentalization (hypothesis 1). Alternatively, it could be that individuals who are already skilled in mentalization are more likely to enter this field, and thus have good mentalization abilities when they begin their studies (hypothesis 2).
A total of 297 students from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology participated in this research. This included students enrolled in the first year fundamental and clinical psychology programs (which overlap in training), sixth year clinical psychology students, and first and fifth year engineering students. Participants completed the mentalization scale, providing ratings from 1 (completely disagree) to 5 (completely agree). Sample items included “I am often confused about my exact feelings” and “People tell me that I understand them and give them sound advice.”
Fagerbakk and colleagues found no difference in mentalization capacity between first and last year psychology students. However, compared to engineering students, first year psychology students had a greater capacity for metallization, providing support for the second hypothesis. Further, women had higher scores compared to men, and age was a positive predictor of participants’ mentalization scores. These demographic effects are consistent with prior research on the topic.
“I think what’s most important about our study is that it indicates that psychologist education does not improve mentalization skills unless they are targeted specifically in therapy training. I believe that such therapist skills should be harvested through practice,” Fagerbakk told PsyPost.
“We still need to learn more about how mentalization skills develops in students and therapists. Also, we need more studies on how mentalization can be trained as a skill,” he added. “Our study is cross-sectional, so it can’t really answer these questions. I think we need longitudinal studies on this subject in future research.”
The study, “Does clinical training improve mentalization skills in future therapists? A comparison of first and last year students of clinical psychology and of engineering”, was authored by Steffen André Fagerbakk, Silje Helen Sørhøy, Torbjørn Nilsen and Nina Jakhelln Laugen.