Parental reflective functioning: Theory, research, and clinical applications

This paper reviews recent theoretical, empirical, and clinical work related to parental reflective functioning (PRF) or parental mentalizing. PRF refers to the capacity of the parent to envision his/her child as being motivated by internal mental states such as feelings, wishes, and desires, and to be able to reflect upon his/her own internal mental experiences and how they are shaped and changed by interactions with the child. This paper first briefly discuss the historical and theoretical background of this concept and its purported role in child development, with a focus on the development of child attachment, affect regulation, and mentalizing. It then reviews recent thinking and research in four areas: (a) the neurobiology underlying PRF, (b) the multidimensionality of PRF, (c) the relationship between PRF and trauma, and (d) the broader relevance of attention to internal mental states for the development of epistemic trust as the basis of an evolutionary inbuilt capacity for learning from and within social communication. It closes with a brief review of the background of and empirical evidence supporting interventions rooted in theoretical considerations concerning the importance of PRF, as well as suggesting directions for future research and clinical practice

Attachment styles and complex PTSD

The relationship between the attachment style of patients and psychological treatment is important, because changes in attachment style are assumed to have an influence on underlying mechanisms for effective treatment. This ex-plorative study aimed to examine the attachment style in patients with complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and changes in attachment style, PTSD-complaints and dissociative symptoms after the first phase of treatment: the stabilization course. The participants completed measures of attachment style, PTSD symptoms and dissociative symptoms before and after the stabilization course. The results show that patients with complex PTSD were not securely attached and that no change in attachment style had taken place after following the first phase of treatment. Furthermore, there was no significant and clinical relevant reduction in PTSD symptoms and dissociative symptoms after the stabilization phase. This study is relevant for the actual discussion about the importance of phase based treatment in complex PTSD