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Empirical studies have demonstrated that securely attached children show better social behavior, less aggression, more creative problem-solving skills, and better cognitive functioning; disorganized attached children, by contrast, have a poor prognosis in these areas (Moss et al. 1996; Fonagy 2002). Project EVA involves the evaluation of two psychoanalytically based prevention programs, Faustlos and Early Steps (Frühe Schritte), looking at their differential effectiveness. The aim is to support and help insecure and disorganized attached children and their families. This dissertation project focuses on teachers working with this high-risk sample and examines their capacity for reflectivity. Teachers today play an important role in the development of children, in particular when they are able to offer the child a stable emotional relationship, which is greatly aided by mentalizing skills. The research question is whether psychoanalytic case supervision will have an enhancing effect on teachers’ mentalizing capacity. To answer this question, a group that has received psychoanalytic case supervision (Early Steps) was compared with a control group (Faustlos).
The study's aim is to determine whether teachers who have received psychoanalytic case supervision (Early Steps) show higher mentalizing skills on the Reflective Self Functioning Scale (Fonagy et al. 1998) than the control group (Faustlos). The Early Steps program offers 14-day psychoanalytic case supervision, weekly parent and teacher counseling, therapy, and Faustlos (a German adaptation of the prevention program Second Step, which inculcates socio-emotional skills for early learning). The duration of these interventions is two years. The sample is drawn from fourteen randomly chosen daycare centers in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods, determined by a representative survey and social indicators.