If you feel you or your family could be helped by talking through a mental health issue, or you feel that psychotherapeutic input might be right for you, then please do get in touch.
Our clinicians are available to talk through your concerns over the phone and can advise as to whether therapeutic help might be beneficial. We offer appointments throughout the day and run evening clinics throughout the week, including Saturdays. We are also able to offer sessions via Zoom where we feel this is clinically appropriate.
Prefer to phone us first? Call us on 0131 5579894
Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) for children helps young people develop the ability to understand their own feelings and thoughts, and those of others.
This capacity, known as mentalizing, supports emotional regulation, relationships, and resilience. MBT is relational, developmentally informed, and particularly helpful where emotions feel overwhelming or confusing.
MBT for children typically involves regular sessions focused on helping the child and caregivers think about feelings, intentions, and misunderstandings as they arise. Sessions may include play, conversation, and joint work with parents or carers. The therapist adopts a curious, collaborative stance, helping slow down emotional moments and restore reflective thinking when it breaks down. Parent or carer involvement is an important part of the work, supporting mentalizing within everyday relationships. The approach is flexible and responsive, rather than technique-heavy, and is adapted to the child’s developmental level.
MBT has an emerging and growing evidence base for children and adolescents with emotional dysregulation, attachment difficulties, self-harm, and relational problems. Research suggests improvements in emotional understanding, behavioural stability, and relationship functioning, particularly where difficulties involve misunderstandings of intentions or intense emotional reactions. MBT is especially suitable for children who struggle to reflect on feelings during stress and for families where emotional communication has become strained. It may be less suitable where brief, highly structured symptom-focused intervention is the sole aim.
“In MBT, we focus on helping children and parents stay curious about feelings and intentions, especially when emotions run high. By strengthening this reflective capacity, children often feel more secure, understood, and better able to manage difficult experiences.”
