Mentalization-Based Treatment for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Norka T. Malberg, PsyD, is a child and adolescent psychologist, psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst. She lives and practices in Barcelona, Spain, where she directs the IMAGINA Mentalization Applications Center and consults for community mental health organizations across Spain, Latin America, and Europe. Her clinical and research work focuses on mentalization-based interventions for trauma and autism, migration and parental reflective functioning, and group treatments for adolescents. She is a coeditor of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, Third Edition, and an APA Guest Master Clinician. She has published numerous articles and book chapters and is coauthor of Mentalization-Based Treatment with Children: A Time-Limited Approach, as well as lead author of Working With Parents in Therapy: A Mentalization-Based Approach. Stefanella Costa-Cordella, PhD, is a clinical child psychologist and holds a PhD in psychoanalytic studies from the Anna Freud Centre and University College London. She is currently a member of the academic staff at Diego Portales University in Chile and serves as research lead at CIC Solas-Oxford in the United Kingdom. Her primary research focuses on the intersection between mentalization-based treatment (MBT) and health psychology. She is also interested in research that facilitates the translation of psychosocial interventions into public policy in Chile. In this context, she is currently leading a Chilean government-funded research project on the cultural adaptation and pilot randomized controlled trial of the Lighthouse MBT parenting program. Line Brotnow Decker, MSc, is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical researcher focused on bridging developmental science and everyday clinical practice. She is a certified practitioner and supervisor in mentalization-based treatment for children (MBT-C) and adolescents (MBT-A) and has extensive experience in both community- and hospital-based services with children and adolescents facing complex, comorbid mental health difficulties in the context of significant life stress. Line Decker serves as head of research for the Intensive In-Home Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Service (IICAPS), and is also co-developer of SPOT-ME, a brief observational measure of parental mentalization. Line Decker currently lives in Oslo, Norway, where she chairs a government-appointed expert panel tasked with developing a national consensus on care for young people with substance use difficulties.