Mentalization-based or metacognitive therapy treatment providers in the U.S.?

Does anyone know of any providers of either of these in the northeast? They both sound very interesting to me, I'm so sick of straightforward cognitive-behavioral or psychodynamic techniques; I think both of these appeal to the way my mind works anyway…

the reason you are having problem locating something called mentalization based therapy is because in some places its no longer called that. the mental health community around here stopped using that term in 2008 and its since been renamed DBT therapy and CBT therapy and Psychodynamic therapy. and they use which ever approach or combination of skills that work for each individual client.

if you would like a combo of all of them just go to your therapy sessions tell your therapist you are tired of going through the same old things and you want to develop your own therapy using a mixxture of things. then tell the therapist what kinds of things you want to try.

most treatment providers are very interested when their clients come to them knowing what exactly they want to do in therapy and are usually more then willing to try those things or help you locate a treatment provider that can do the things you want to try.

We have a client here that is taking a psych class and wants to try a combination of CBT, DBT, EMDR and Hypnosis. So we contacted county mental health and they have treatment providers over there that are willing to talk with her and see if they can work something out with her using all these techniques.

most people in therapy have individualized treatment plans to fit their needs and problems anyway. so it will probably be quite easy for you to find what you need as long as you are clear about what you need and can explain it to the treatment providers.

Check this for MCT: http://www.mct-institute.com/metacog.html

This is a paper written by the originators of MBT: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816926/

You may want to check personal coaches as well as therapists. I have connections with some people here in Indiana that do that sort of thing but the specific training they got does not qualify them for a therapy license in this state... So they do the same work under the title "personal coaching".

Here in the UK, mentalization based treatment is definitely a very different treatment from DBT, CBT or psychodynamic therapy. It's based on theory of mind and attachment.

It may be difficult to find in the US because it was developed in the UK. We have the opposite situation here- it is (relatively) easier to access MBT than DBT (which was developed in the US)!

If you're interested in Mentalization Based Therapy, check out Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy out of the UK. It's a therapy developed to work with individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder. I believe that Bateman has done some training of the staff at McLean Hospital. You can also hear him talk about Mentalization Therapy at the National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder site. Click on the conference achives and I believe there are a few audio recordings/video on Mentalization Therapy. Bateman also has an excellent book on the topic titled: Mentalization Based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Practical Guide.

thanks for your response

i am still a little confused as it seems other responders indicate that MBT is different from DBT, in essence as well as name. as with metacognitive, it seems to be more of a U.K.-based modality (hence my original post)

i feel very conflicted about therapy, i am euro-asian-american and feel that descriptions of therapies overseas would work better for me, but it's such a big step to move over there for that kind of reason.

You're right that would be a BIG move!!

I'm sorry the responses have been confusing. It is definitely definitely different. This, for example, is a simple post discussing the merits of DBT vs MBT skills, written in 2009 (so after the 'renaming' in 2008 that amandalouise suggested):

http://www.anythingtostopthepain.com...avioral-chain/

In this one, a DBT treatment centre talks about using MBT in addition to DBT:
http://atlantadbt.com/about_mbt

Would there be other reasons for moving abroad, and for the place you would choose to move to, other than for therapy? Moving is indeed a big step, but that doesn't mean it's the wrong one.

If you're interested in having something 'more' than cognitive therapy but can't access MBT, there are other third wave cognitive therapies which are (imo) fantastic developments: compassion focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness based cognitive therapy...

Thanks for giving this extra information. Yeah I think you can DEFINITELY get good help closer to home. The thing is there are many therapists who read and absorb the different approaches and incorporate them in their work. Someone who is at the top of their field will have basically heard of this even if they don't have formal training.

The confusing thing about "mentalization therapy" (the UK one right?) is that it basically stresses attunement, and reflecting feelings, which are components of EVERY therapy. You might be able to find a therapist who is naturally better at doing these things than others. I don't know how to describe it but some people are just talented at getting in others' heads. I think most therapy has an element of mentalization to it. Good luck finding something close(r) to home!

Thanks those links were very helpful; yes I have also been thinking of other reasons to move to the U.K., at least temporarily (there is a cross-cultural psych program I'm interested in in West London, but I'm not sure if I could handle the stress right now, even if I did it part-time [which would also entail spending two years there rather than one]).

Interestingly I did once meet with an English therapist in Amsterdam last year, in retrospect a little of what she did sounds MBT-related (asking me to imagine other people's feelings and motivations).

I'm not extremely attached to where I'm at right now, I'm living with family and not working so going somewhere far *might* be a good thing in and of itself.

I'm not sure where you live, Reader, but I'm guessing the US. Hopefully you don't have to pull up roots and move to the UK to get Mentalization Based therapy. As I mentioned, I'm pretty sure that Bateman has done training of staff at McLean hospital here in the US (google McLean). You could even call McLean and perhaps get a lead on some therapists here in the US who are trained in the techniques. Couldn't hurt!

Yes I'm in the Philadelphia region. Having read a little more on the two therapies I mentioned in the header I think the metacognitive one is much more interesting to me, the other one (MBT) seems a little bit like mind-reading, I have an unhealthy tendency to do that already. A while ago I sent an email to the guy in Britain who developed MCT, but he hadn't trained anyone from the U.S. in it at that time.

It's interesting that you mentioned that MBT is a lot like mindreading, Reader. In a sense, I think many of us run into difficulties because we think we're mindreading, but in actuality, we're usually misinterpreting what is happening because we're relying on our own personal misconceptions about social situations. In a sense, we're using our own warped or twisted take on relationships or social interactions. I don't know about you, but that always leads to serious problems I often think that the anxiety I feel in social situations, an anxiety that isn't evident just by looking at me, results in this tendency to "think" I"m reading the other person's intentions, but in reality, I am stumbling around in my own brain making the wrong connections or interpretations. I've come to the conclusion that being inside my own brain during these situations is a dangerous place to be! I need to be less with my own perceptions and more with how the other person is thinking. In MBT, there is a focus on helping the individual who struggles with the misconception that they're "mindreading" to have a serious reality check on how much he/she is making the wrong conclusions. It teaches individuals to consistently check on what the other person is thinking and/or feeling. It does this through lots and lots of practice. Instead of jumping to the wrong conclusion, it encourages individuals to check in and be more real and present in the actual relationship. My take on things anyway.
Good luck with your search!