Consider the contexts where bits of mentalizing are possible, and where it is lost.
There are LOTS of examples in here!
Themes to draw out in group feedback
After small group discussion, invite feedback in whole group discussion.
Mentalizing:
”You know what I’m like” when leaving voicemail. Acknowledgement that gets in to certain behaviours in certain states and that her friend is likely to recognise this too
Makes a joke that relies on mentalizing. When her friend’s dad say “I’ll have you one of these days, Mia.” she responds “You’ll be so lucky.”. This is only funny if we able to mentalize. We mentalize that Mia has mentalized what the dad really intended to communicate with his threat (I’ll beat you up), but that she is pretending she thought he meant something else (I’ll sleep with you). Most humour requires multiple perspective taking.
Mia appears to mentalize the horse – perhaps it is distressed and wants to be free. However she does not seem to recognise the potential impact on the horse of banging on it’s chain. She looks back and appears to notice the apparently attuned response of the boy who comforts the horse by stroking it
Mia appears to mentalize the dog. She mentalizes that his behaviour suggests he is made anxious by someone coming through the door and she seeks to reassure him by saying “Don’t worry, it’s only me.” whilst crouching down to his level and stroking him
Non-mentalizing:
Evidence of teleology (head butt)
Possible psychic equivalence: “You what’s wrong with me”.
Multiple incidents of negative interpretations of one another’s intentions resulting in hostile responses
Domino effect of break down of mentalizing in most of the human interactions
Different perspectives: Trainees will often voice different interpretations of events, particularly in relation to the dance scene:
some think Mia wants to join in
others think she is mocking the other girls
Others might feel she is worried for the girls in relation to the male watchers
It can be helpful to draw these out and mark the differences: it demonstrates that mentalizing can only ever be a best guess