The evolving use of Mentalization informed thinking with the ‘Care Team’ in the Irish statutory child protection system

ABSTRACT

This article articulates the development of a novel form of service provision in Ireland directed at supporting Foster placements and Social Work practice with the aim of adverting placement breakdown. Within The Attachment & Mentalization Service model emphasis is placed on supporting the Care Team (i.e. Social Workers, Foster Parents) around children in care in Ireland with the ultimate aim of providing a depth of understanding that is commensurate with the level of relational difficulty experienced by children in care. The service model is underpinned by evidenced informed thinking relating to the knowledge bases of Mentalization, Reflective Functioning, and Alan Schore’s articulation of Co-regulation. Privilege of space is provided to the illumination of the theory of Mentalization and Reflective Functioning with Co-regulation and psychoanalytical concepts of projection and containment also be highlighted. To aid the reader’s digestion of the material a simple, everyday case example is provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Mentalisation
• Reflective Function
• Co-Regulation
• social work practice
• foster parent
• containment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Readers should note that Fonagy and Target have asserted that ‘“Reflective Function” is Mentalisation measured in the context of attachment’

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tom Casey

Tom Casey is the Clinical Lead of the Attachment and Mentalization service which he founded in 2015. Originally a Social Worker he subsequently undertook additional training in Integrative and Humanistic Psychotherapy and latterly as a Mentalization-Based Practitioner with the British Psychoanalytical Council. BPC.

Tom has long been interested in the relational dynamics of families and previously co-authored Positive Systemic Practice for Families of Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioural Problems. He has a keen interest in the application of evidence-informed practice and the application of relational psychoanalytical concepts both within the client-facing arenas of statutory Social Work as well as how such relational issues operate within the professional network within in the Care Team.

Tom maintains a private practice in Dublin and provides consultations/training to Social Work departments. He is currently a Doctoral candidate at the Tavistock and Portman Foundation in London where he is undertaking research into the experience of a group of Irish Social Workers encountering a bespoke training in Mentalization and Reflective Functioning.