When is truth relevant?

Journal title PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE
Author/s Elizabeth Allison, Peter Fonagy
Publishing Year 2020 Issue 2020/1
Language Italian Pages 28 P. 17-44 File size 152 KB
DOI 10.3280/PU2020-001002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The experience of knowing and having the truth about oneself known in the context of therapy is not an end in itself; rather, it is important because the trust engendered by this experience ("epis-temic trust", or trust in new knowledge) opens one up to learning about one’s social world and finding better ways to live in it. The consequences of a lack of epistemic trust in terms of psycho-pathology are discussed. The role of mentalizing in the therapeutic relationship is emphasized, and it is suggested that although the Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) developed by Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy may be a specific and particular form of practice, the "mentalizing therapist" is a universal constituent of effective psychotherapeutic interventions.

Keywords: Epis-temic trust; Mentalization; Therapeutic action; Truth; Borderline personality disorder

  1. Eagleton T. (1996). The Illusions of Postmodernism. Oxford, UK: Blackwell (trad. it.: Le illusioni del postmodernismo. Roma: Editori Riuniti, 1998).
  2. Alexander F. (1930). Zur Genese des Kastrationskomplexes. Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, 16, 3/4: 349-352. Anche in: Almanach der Psychoanalyse, 1931, 6: 231-236 (trad. inglese di Charles F. Menninger: Concerning the genesis of the castration complex. Psychoanalytic Review, 1935, 22, 1: 49-52).
  3. Alexander F., French T.M. et al. (1946). Psychoanalytic Therapy: Principles and Applications. New York: Ronald Press (trad. it. dei capitoli 2, 4 e 17: La esperienza emozionale correttiva. Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, 1993, XXVII, 2: 85-101. - Edizione su Internet: www.psychomedia.it/pm/modther/probpsiter/alexan-1.htm).
  4. Allen J.G., Fonagy P. & Bateman A. (2008). Mentalizing in Clinical Practice. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press (trad. it.: La mentalizzazione nella pratica clinica. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2010).
  5. Asen E. & Fonagy P. (2012). Mentalization-based therapeutic interventions for families. Journal of Family Therapy, 34, 4: 347-370.
  6. Bateman A. & Fonagy P. (1999). Psychotherapy for severe personality disorder. Article did not do justice to available research data. British Medical Journal, 319, 7211: 709-710.
  7. Bateman A. & Fonagy P. (2004). Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder. Mentalization-Based Treatment. Foreword by John Gunderson. New York: Oxford University Press (trad. it.: Trattamento basato sulla mentalizzazione. Psicoterapia con il paziente borderline. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2006).
  8. Bateman A. & Fonagy P. (2006). Mentalization-based Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Practical Guide. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press (trad. it.: Guida pratica al trattamento basato sulla mentalizzazione. Per il disturbo borderline di personalità. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2010).
  9. Bateman A. & Fonagy P. (2016). Mentalization Based Treatment for Personality Disorders: A Practical Guide. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press (trad. it.: Mentalizzazione e disturbi di personalità. Una guida pratica al trattamento. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2019).
  10. Bateman A. & Fonagy P. (2010). Mentalization-based treatment for borderline personality disorder. World Psychiatry, 9, 1: 11-15.
  11. Bell D. (2009). Is truth an illusion? Psychoanalysis and postmodernism. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 90, 2: 331-345.
  12. Bernardi R. (2005). What after pluralism? Ulysses still on the road. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 25, 5: 654-666.
  13. Berthelot N., Ensink K., Bernazzani O., Normandin L., Luyten P. & Fonagy P. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of attachment in abused and neglected mothers: The role of trauma-specific reflective functioning. Infant Mental Health Journal, 36, 2: 200-212.
  14. Bion W.R. (1957). Attacks on linking. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1959, 40: 308-315. Anche in: Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 2013, 82, 2: 285-300 (trad. it.: Attacchi al legame. In: Analisi degli schizofrenici e metodo psicoanalitico. Roma: Armando, 1970, pp. 143-166).
  15. Bion W.R. (1962a). Learning from Experience. London: Heinemann (trad. it.: Apprendere dall’esperienza. Roma: Armando, 1972).
  16. Bion W.R. (1962b). A theory of thinking. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 43: 306-310 (trad. it.: Una teoria del pensiero. In: Analisi degli schizofrenici e metodo psicoanalitico. Roma: Armando, 1970, cap. 8, pp. 167-182).
  17. Blackburn S. (2005). Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Penguin.
  18. Blum H.P. (2003). Repression, transference and reconstruction. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 84, 3: 497-503. DOI: 10.1516/Y3LH-C2DA-JX46-6R2V
  19. Boston Change Process Study Group (BCPSG) (2002). Explicating the implicit: The local level and the microprocess of change in the analytic situation. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 83, 5: 1051-1062. DOI: 10.1516/B105-35WV-MM0Y-NTAD
  20. Boston Change Process Study Group (BCPSG) (2010). Change in Psychotherapy: A Unifying Paradigm. New York: Norton (trad. it.: Il cambiamento in psicoterapia. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2012).
  21. Breuer J. & Freud S. (1892-95). Studi sull’isteria. Opere, 1: 162-439. Torino: Boringhieri, 1967.
  22. Brousseau-Liard P., Cassels T. & Birch S. (2014). You seem certain but you were wrong before: Developmental change in preschoolers’ relative trust in accurate versus confident speakers. PLoS One, 9, 9: e108308.
  23. Clarkin J.F., Fonagy P. & Gabbard G.O., editors (2010). Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Personality Disorders: A Clinical Handbook. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  24. Clarkin J.F., Levy K.N., Lenzenweger M.F. & Kernberg O.F. (2007). Evaluating three treatments for borderline personality disorder: A multiwave study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 6: 922-928.
  25. Cooper A.M. (2003). Commentary on “Psychoanalytic discourse at the turn of our century: A plea for a measure of humility”. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 51 (suppl.): 108-114.
  26. Csibra G. & Gergely G. (2006). Social learning and social cognition: The case for pedagogy. In: Johnson M.H. & Munakata Y.M., editors, Processes of Change in Brain and Cognitive Development. Attention and Performance. Vol. XXI. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006, pp. 249-274.
  27. Csibra G. & Gergely G. (2009). Natural pedagogy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13: 148-153.
  28. Csibra G. & Gergely G. (2011). Natural pedagogy as evolutionary adaptation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366, 1567: 1149-1157.
  29. Doering S., Horz S., Rentrop M., Fischer-Kern M., Schuster P., Benecke C., Buckheim A., Martius P. & Buckheim P. (2010). Transference-focused psychotherapy v. treatment by community psychotherapists for borderline personality disorder: Randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, 196, 5: 389-395.
  30. Durkin K. & Shafto P. (2016). Epistemic trust and education: Effects of informant reliability on student learning of decimal concepts. Child Development, 87, 1: 154-164.
  31. Ellman S.J. & Moskowitz M. (2008). A study of the Boston Change Process Study Group. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 18, 6: 812-837. DOI: 10.1080/10481880802473357
  32. Ensink K., Berthelot N., Bernazzani O., Normandin L. & Fonagy P. (2014). Another step closer to measuring the ghosts in the nursery: Preliminary validation of the Trauma Reflective Functioning Scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 5: 1471 (http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01471/full).
  33. Fonagy P. (1998a). An attachment theory approach to treatment of the difficult patient. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 62: 147-169.
  34. Fonagy P. (1998b). Moments of change in psychoanalytic theory: Discussion of a new theory of psychic change. Infant Mental Health Journal, 19, 3: 346-353.
  35. Fonagy P. (1999). Memory and therapeutic action (Guest editorial). International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 80, 2: 215-223.
  36. Fonagy P. (2000). Response. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 2: 357 (risposta a Migone, 2000).
  37. Fonagy P. (2003). Some complexities in the relationship of psychoanalytic theory to technique. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 72, 1: 13-47.
  38. Fonagy P. (2015a). The effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapies: An update. World Psychiatry, 14, 2: 137-150.
  39. Fonagy P. (2015b). Mutual regulation, mentalization and therapeutic action: A reflection on the contributions of Ed Tronick to developmental and psychotherapeutic thinking. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 35, 4: 355-369. DOI: 10.1080/07351690.2015.1022481
  40. Fonagy P. & Allison E. (2014). The role of mentalizing and epistemic trust in the therapeutic relationship. Psychotherapy, 51, 3: 372-380.
  41. Fonagy P. & Campbell C. (2017). Bad blood: Fifteen years on. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 37, 5: 281-283.
  42. Fonagy P., Edgcumbe R., Moran G.S., Kennedy H. & Target M. (1993). The roles of mental representations and mental processes in therapeutic action. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 48: 9-48. DOI: 10.1080/00797308.1993.11822377
  43. Fonagy P., Gergely G., Jurist E.L. & Target M. (2002). Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self. New York: Other Press (trad. it.: Regolazione affettiva, mentalizzazione e sviluppo del Sé. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2004).
  44. Fonagy P. & Luyten P. (2009). A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder. Development & Psychopathology, 21, 4: 1355-1381. DOI: 10.1017/S0954579409990198
  45. Fonagy P., Luyten P. & Allison E. (2015). Epistemic petrification and the restoration of epistemic trust: A new conceptualization of borderline personality disorder and its psychosocial treatment. Journal of Personality Disorders, 29, 5: 575-609.
  46. Fonagy P., Luyten P., Moulton-Perkins A., Lee Y.-W., Warren F., Howard S. & Lowyck B. (2016). Development and validation of a self-report measure of mentalizing: The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. PLoS One, 11, 7: e0158678.
  47. Fonagy P., Steele M., Steele H., Higgitt A. & Target M. (1994). The Emanuel Miller Memorial Lecture, 1992: The theory and practice of resilience [Review]. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 35, 2: 231-257.
  48. Fonagy P. & Target M. (1993-2000 [2001]). Attaccamento e funzione riflessiva. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2001.
  49. Hernik M. & Gergely G. (2015). To what adaptive problems is human teaching a solution? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38, 1: 26-27 (e42). DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X14000788
  50. Fonagy P. & Target M. (1996). Playing with reality: I. Theory of mind and the normal development of psychic reality. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 2: 217-233 (trad. it.: Giocare con la realtà: I. La teoria della mente e lo sviluppo normale della realtà psichica. Setting, 1998, 6: 33-59. Anche in: Fonagy & Target, 1993-2000 [2001], cap. 5, pp. 137-160).
  51. Fonagy P. & Target M. (2000). Playing with reality: III. The persistence of dual psychic reality in borderline patients. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 5: 853-873.
  52. Fonagy P. & Target M. (2005). Bridging the transmission gap: An end to an important mystery of attachment research? Attachment & Human Development, 7, 3: 333-343. DOI: 10.1080/14616730500269278
  53. Fonagy P. & Target M. (2007a). Playing with reality: IV. A theory of external reality rooted in intersubjectivity. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 88, 4: 917-937. DOI: 10.1516/4774-6173-241T-7225
  54. Fonagy P. & Target M. (2007b). The rooting of the mind in the body: New links between attachment theory and psychoanalytic thought. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 55, 2: 411-456. DOI: 10.1177/00030651070550020501
  55. Fonagy P., Target M. & Gergely G. (2000). Attachment and borderline personality disorder: A theory and some evidence. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 23, 1: 103-122. DOI: 10.1016/S0193-953X(05)70146-5
  56. Freud S. (1908 [1909]). Analisi della fobia di un bambino di cinque anni (Caso clinico del piccolo Hans). Opere, 5: 481-589. Torino: Boringhieri, 1970.
  57. Freud S. (1921). Psicologia delle masse e analisi dell’Io. Opere, 9: 259-330. Torino: Boringhieri, 1977.
  58. Freud S. (1932 [1933]). Introduzione alla psicoanalisi (nuova serie di lezioni). Opere, 11: 117-284. Torino: Boringhieri, 1979.
  59. Gergely G. & Watson J. (1996). The social biofeedback model of parental affect-mirroring. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 6: 1181-1212.
  60. Giddens A. (1972). Politics and Sociology in the Thought of Max Weber. London: Macmillan, 2013.
  61. Grünbaum A. (1984). The Foundations of Psychoanalysis. A Philosophical Critique. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (trad.it.: I fondamenti della psicoanalisi. Milano: Il Saggiatore, 1988).
  62. Grünbaum A. (2008). Popper’s fundamental misdiagnosis of the scientific defects of Freudian psychoanalysis and of their bearing on the theory of demarcation. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 25, 4: 574-589.
  63. Gunderson J.G. (1996). The borderline patient’s intolerance of aloneness: Insecure attachments and therapist availability. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 6: 752-758.
  64. Gunderson J.G. & Links P.L. (2014). Handbook of Good Psychiatric Management (GPM) for Borderline Patients. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press (trad. it.: Il good psychiatric management nel trattamento del disturbo borderline. Milano: Edra, 2015).
  65. Hartmann H. (1955). Notes on the theory of sublimation. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 10: 9-29. Anche in: Essays on Ego Psychology. New York: International Universities Press, 1964, pp. 215-240 (trad. it.: Note sulla teoria della sublimazione. In: Saggi sulla psicologia dell’Io. Torino: Boringhieri, 1976, pp. 232-258).
  66. Hattie J. (2013). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London: Routledge (in italiano, vedi: Apprendimento visibile, insegnamento efficace: metodi e strategie di successo dalla ricerca evidence-based [2011]. Trento: Erickson, 2016).
  67. Hume D. (1739). A Treatise of Human Nature. London: John Noon; Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000 (trad. it.: Trattato sulla natura umana. A cura di Paolo Guglielmoni. Testo inglese a fronte. Milano: Bompiani, 2001).
  68. Jimenez J.P. (2008). Theoretical plurality and pluralism in psychoanalytic practice. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 89, 3: 579-599.
  69. Jørgensen C.R., Bøye R., Andersen D., Døssing Blaabjerg A.H., Freund C., Jordet H. & Kjølbye M. (2014). Eighteen months post-treatment naturalistic follow-up study of mentalization-based therapy and supportive group treatment of borderline personality disorder: Clinical outcomes and functioning. Nordic Psychology, 66, 4: 254-273. DOI: 10.1080/19012276.2014.963649
  70. Jørgensen C.R., Freund C., Bøye R., Jordet H., Andersen D. & Kjølbye M. (2013). Outcome of mentalization-based and supportive psychotherapy in patients with borderline personality disorder: A randomized trial. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 127, 4: 305-317.
  71. Jurist E.L. (2018). Minding Emotions: Cultivating Mentalization in Psychotherapy. New York: Guilford (trad. it.: Tenere a mente le emozioni. La mentalizzazione in psicoterapia. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2018).
  72. Kernberg O.F., Yeomans F.E., Clarkin J.F. & Levy K.N. (2008). Transference focused psychotherapy: Overview and update. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 89, 3: 601-620.
  73. Kiraly I., Csibra G. & Gergely G. (2013). Beyond rational imitation: Learning arbitrary means actions from communicative demonstrations. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 116, 2: 471-486.
  74. Koenig M.A. & Harris P.L. (2005). The role of social cognition in early trust. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 10: 457-459.
  75. McMain S.F., Links P.S., Gnam W.H., Guimond T., Cardish R.J., Korman L. & Streiner D.L. (2009). A randomized trial of dialectical behavior therapy versus general psychiatric management for borderline personality disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166, 12: 1365-1374.
  76. McMain S.F., Guimond T., Streiner D.L., Cardish R.J. & Links P.S. (2012). Dialectical behavior therapy compared with general psychiatric management for borderline personality disorder: Clinical outcomes and functioning over a two-year follow-up. American Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 6: 650-661.
  77. Migone P. (1987). Cronache psicoanalitiche: l’azione legale degli psicologi americani contro l’istituzione psicoanalitica per il diritto alla formazione. Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, XXI, 4: 83-89 -- (una versione del 1990 è su Internet alla pagina http:// www.psychomedia.it/pm/modther/probpsiter/ruoloter/rt53-54.htm).
  78. Migone P. (2000). Recovery of memories and therapeutic change. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 2: 356-357 [risposta: Fonagy, 2000]).
  79. Migone P. (2003). Riflessioni sulla linea di ricerca di Daniel Stern. Psicoterapia e Scienze Umane, 2018, 52, 4: 601-608 (con un intervento di Giovanni Liotti, pp. 609-614). DOI: 10.3280/PU2018-004006
  80. O’Shaughnessy E. (1994). What is a clinical fact? International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 75, 5/6: 939- 947.
  81. Recanati F. (1997). Can we believe what we do not understand? Mind & Language, 12, 1, 84-100. DOI: 10.1111/1468-0017.00037
  82. Renik O. (1998). The analyst’s subjectivity and the analyst’s objectivity. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 79, 3: 487-497.
  83. Renik O. (2005). Standards and standardization. Fort Da, 11: 60-72.
  84. Russell B. (1940). An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth. London: Allen & Unwin (trad. it.: Significato e verità. Milano: Longanesi, 1963).
  85. Ryle A. (2003). Something more than the “something more than interpretation” is needed: A comment on the paper by the Process of Change Study Group. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 84, 1: 109-118. DOI: 10.1516/1MUF-YMBU-GN05-B4RP
  86. Sharp C. & Fonagy P. (2008). The parent’s capacity to treat the child as a psychological agent: Constructs, measures and implications for developmental psychopathology. Social Development, 17, 3: 737-754.
  87. Sharp C., Ha C., Carbone C., Kim S., Perry K., Williams L. & Fonagy P. (2013). Hypermentalizing in adolescent inpatients: Treatment effects and association with borderline traits. Journal of Personality Disorders, 27, 1: 3-18.
  88. Sharp C., Pane H., Ha C., Venta A., Patel A.B., Sturek J. & Fonagy P. (2011). Theory of mind and emotion regulation difficulties in adolescents with borderline traits. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50, 6: 563-573.
  89. Sperber D., Clement F., Heintz C., Mascaro O., Mercier H., Origgi G. & Wilson D. (2010). Epistemic vigilance. Mind & Language, 25, 4: 359-393.
  90. Stern D., Sander L.W., Nahum J.P., Harrison A.M., Lyons-Ruth K., Morgan A.C., Bruschweile-Stern N. & Tronick E.Z. (1998). Non-interpretive mechanisms in psychoanalytic therapy: The “something more” than interpretation. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 79, 5: 903-921. Anche in: Boston Change Process Study Group, 2010, pp. 1-29 (trad. it.: Il “qualcosa in più” dell’interpretazione. Meccanismi non interpretativi in terapia psicoanalitica, pp. 1-24; anche in: Psicobiettivo, 2000, XX, 3: 139-164; Carli L. & Rodini C., a cura di. Le forme di intersoggettività: l’implicito e l’esplicito nelle relazioni interpersonali. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2008, pp. 425-454; Onnis L., a cura di, Una nuova alleanza tra psicoterapia e neuroscienze. Dall’intersoggettività ai neuroni specchio [2011]. Milano: FrancoAngeli, 2015, pp. 75-104).
  91. Target M. & Fonagy P. (1996). Playing with reality: II. The development of psychic reality from a theoretical perspective. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 3: 459-479 (trad. it.: Giocare con la realtà: II. Lo sviluppo della realtà psichica da un punto di vista teorico. Setting, 1999, 7: 29-62. Anche in: Fonagy & Target, 1993-2000 [2001], cap. 6, pp. 161-189).
  92. Tronick E.Z. (1978-2008 [2008]). Regolazione emotiva: nello sviluppo e nel processo terapeutico. Milano: Raffaello Cortina, 2008.
  93. Tronick E.Z. (2007). The Neurobehavioral and Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Children. New York: Norton (in italiano si veda: Tronick, 1978-2008).
  94. Tuckett D. (2005). Does anything go? Towards a framework for the more transparent assessment of psychoanalytic competence. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 86, 1: 31-49. DOI: 10.1516/R2U5-XJ37-7DFJ-DD18
  95. Vivona J.M. (2006). From developmental metaphor to developmental model: The shrinking role of language in the talking cure. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 54, 3: 877-902.
  96. Wallerstein R., editor (1992). The Common Ground of Psychoanalysis. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
  97. Wilson D. & Sperber D. (2012). Meaning and Relevance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  98. Wilson D.S. (1976). Evolution on the level of communities. Science, 192, 4246: 1358-1360.
  99. Wilson D.S. (2013). Human cultures are primarily adaptive at the group level. Cliodynamics: The Journal of Theoretical & Mathematical History, 4: 102-138.
  100. Wilson D.S. & Wilson E.O. (2007). Rethinking the theoretical foundation of sociobiology. Quarterly Review of Biology, 82, 4: 327-348. DOI: 10.1086/522809
  101. Wolf E.S. (1992). On being a scientist or a healer. Annual of Psychoanalysis, 20: 115-129.

Elizabeth Allison, Peter Fonagy, Quando è importante la verità? in "PSICOTERAPIA E SCIENZE UMANE" 1/2020, pp 17-44, DOI: 10.3280/PU2020-001002