Mentalizing: When Feelings Equal Facts ...it Can Be A Problem

Psychic Equivalence, unpacked.

As part of my ongoing coverage of mentalization-based treatment (MBT) that is a psychotherapy that exists, this article describes MBT as a modality. Today I'm going to be describing the concept of psychic equivalence— when you believe something so strongly when you believe some thing so strongly that your feelings become the facts! This is written for an audience of anybody, not just therapists!

Mentalizing? The Art of Getting it Wrong.

You don't mentalize everyone who walks past you on the street. That would be exhausting and pointless. And similarly, you don't mentalize tigers who are coming to eat you.

It is not adaptive to spend your time wondering about tiger appetite. I wonder how hungry he is?