Applying the Concept of Mentalization to Leadership Practice in Mental Health Teams for Children and Young People

The potential value of mentalizing to leadership has been previously described and the purpose of this paper is to consider how this may work in practice. The authors have provided mentalization based leadership for over ten years in different teams and this paper shares our learning about mentalization based methods that have proved useful for this purpose. The intention is to illustrate that a mentalizing approach to leadership is not just about being a sensitive manager but involves specific ways of attending to mental states that support effective team practice. This approach makes explicit mentalizing a core aspect of all aspects of team functioning so that it is integrated into team meetings, case discussion, supervision and professional meetings with other teams. Examples are provided as to how to hold a clear boundary between mentalizing as a treatment and mentalizing as a way of supporting work interactions. Providing mentalization informed leadership is considered with respect to organisational power, professional inclusion, the need for safe practice and other core dilemmas of clinical team practice.