Relation between referential and reflexive processes: an explorative study

Esposito, Giovanna; Savarese, Livia; Squitieri, Barbara

doi:10.1080/09515070.2018.1428528

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…One study simply used "self-reflective talk" which was defined as a social display of cognitive processing (Logren et al, 2017). Esposito et al (2019) examined two processes in therapy conversations: "reflection" and "reflexivity". The authors define reflection as the psychological process allowing an individual to "access a new understanding" by which the subject can think about relational processes relating to themselves.…”

Section: Reflective Process Terms and Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualisation and Measurement of Reflective Process in Psychotherapy: A Systematic Scoping Review

Sidis

Moore

Pickard

et al. 2022

J Contemp Psychother

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Psychological therapies use talk as a means to produce change for individuals who are experiencing distress. Despite a significant body of research comparing approaches, there is little evidence for the superiority of one model over another. The process of reflection has been suggested as a common factor across modalities, and research aiming to measure this phenomenon is emerging. This scoping review is focussed on the conceptualisations, measurement and process outcomes of reflective talk as it occurs during therapy. Twenty-two studies were selected from a total of 3712 papers identified following a systematic search of SCOPUS, MEDLINE, PsychINFO and Web of Science databases. A variety of descriptors emerged: intrapersonal constructs such as mentalization and metacognition tended to view reflectivity as an individually acquired skill or trait, where other descriptors adopted an interpersonal understanding of reflection as co-constructed through dialogue. Our findings suggest a shift from individual to intersubjective understandings of reflecting processes in therapy may be a valuable area for future research.

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Section: Reflective Process Terms and Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualisation and Measurement of Reflective Process in Psychotherapy: A Systematic Scoping Review

Sidis

Moore

Pickard

et al. 2022

J Contemp Psychother

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show abstract

“…For example, Multiple Code Theory ( Bucci and Maskit, 2007 ) is a general theory of emotional information processing that highlights the fact that the referential process makes it possible to communicate the emotional experience of a person to other people and to regulate emotions through the own words of a person or words of other people. When the referential process, which links sub-symbolic experiences with images and words, is not activated in the therapeutic relationship, an expansion of the emotional aspects can occur, which can hinder a positive outcome of the intervention ( Mariani and De Coro, 2013 ; Esposito et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pseudomentalization as a Challenge for Therapists of Group Psychotherapy With Drug Addicted Patients

et al. 2022

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One of the main challenges in group therapy with drug-addicted patients is collective pseudomentalization, i.e., a group discourse consisting of words and clichés that are decoupled from any inner emotional life and are poorly related to external reality. In this study, we aimed to explore the phenomenology of pseudomentalization and how it was addressed by the therapist in an outpatient group for drug-addicted patients. The group was composed of seven members, and the transcripts of eight audio-recorded sessions (one per month) were rated and studied. The interventions of the therapist were measured with the mentalization-based group therapy (MBT-G) adherence and quality scale by independent raters. Two sessions, one with the highest and one with the lowest adherence, were selected, and the clinical sequences of pseudomentalization were analyzed in a comparative way. The findings revealed that pseudomentalization does occur as a collective phenomenon, akin to “basic assumptions” of Wilfred Bion, which we reconceptualized in this study. Any pseudomentalization seemed to be reinforced by the therapist when she was presenting frequent and long interventions, when abstaining from the management of group boundaries, when providing questions focused more on content than on the mental states of the group members, and when not focusing on emotions. However, the ultimate source of collective pseudomentalization seemed to be the fear of the group members of being overwhelmed by painful emotions, mental confusion, and a loss of identity. The findings also indicated that the principles of MBT-G may be a good antidote to pseudomentalization.

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“…Specifically, NMP is a nine-session group counseling program based on five narrative modes with specific mentalizing objectives, a narrative group that amplifies the mentalizing potentialities of the narrative modes, and a counselor who adopts a mentalizing stance throughout the process. In previous studies (Esposito & Freda, 2017; Esposito, Freda, & De Luca Picione, 2016; Esposito, Ribeiro, Alves, Gonçalves, & Freda, 2017; Esposito, Savarese, & Squitieri, 2018; Freda, Gonzàlez-Monteagudo, & Esposito, 2016), we have already analyzed the role of both narrative modes and groups in determining the effectiveness of some NMP interventions. For example, we demonstrated that the NMP final narrative modes were better at promoting more complex mentalizing abilities (Esposito, Freda, & De Luca Picione, 2016), whereas the narrative modes in the middle of the NMP term promoted less mentalizing improvements (Freda, Gonzàlez-Monteagudo, & Esposito, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentalizing underachievement in group counseling: Analyzing the relationship between members’ reflective functioning and counselors’ interventions.

Esposito¹,

Karterud²,

Freda³

2021

Psychological Services

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This study concerns an innovative group counseling method, the narrative mediation path (NMP), which aims to promote mentalization on underachievement among university students. The study analyzes a single NMP case with the aim of investigating whether a counselor's interventions influence the reflective functioning (RF) of the group members and their academic performance. The transcripts of 9 sessions of a single NMP were rated according to the Reflective Functioning Scale. We used a microgenetic approach to analyze the clinical sequences of the sessions, for which significant changes in the RF were observed. We identified and categorized the types of counselor's interventions that seemed to improve the students' RFs most effectively. Academic performance was measured by the Academic Performance Scale. The results indicated that most of the students improved their level of RF by mentalizing their problem of underachievement while also improving academic performance. The interventions, which reflect both the not-knowing stance and defense interpretations of the counselor, appeared to play a key role in developing the mentalizing capacities. We discuss the relevance of these findings for the more "interpretative" role of clinicians in mentalizing interventions and the need of further studies to determine whether the results are replicable.

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Relation between referential and reflexive processes: an explorative study

Cited by 4 publications

References 41 publications

Conceptualisation and Measurement of Reflective Process in Psychotherapy: A Systematic Scoping Review

Conceptualisation and Measurement of Reflective Process in Psychotherapy: A Systematic Scoping Review

Pseudomentalization as a Challenge for Therapists of Group Psychotherapy With Drug Addicted Patients

Mentalizing underachievement in group counseling: Analyzing the relationship between members’ reflective functioning and counselors’ interventions.

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