Publications

Feel free to check out my books, videos, and other publications here, as well as work done in collaboration with other colleagues and organizations.  If you would like additional information, please contact me and I'd be happy to discuss details further with you.

book:  mentalization based treatment for children

Mentalization--based treatment (MBT) promotes clients’ ability to interpret the meaning of others’ behavior by considering their underlying mental states and intentions, as well as clients’ capacity to understand the impact of their own behaviors on others.  This book is the first comprehensive clinical introduction to using this approach with children, 5--12 years old, who experience emotional and behavioral problems including anxiety, depression, and relational difficulties. Written by an international team of clinician--researchers who are pioneering the MBT model with children, the authors begin by exploring the significance of mentalization and then devote the core chapters to the process of conducting short-term (9--12 sessions) MBT for children, including problem assessment and case formulation in terms of mentalizing techniques, the therapist’s stance, and treatment termination. The approach draws on traditional psychodynamic principles, but integrates them with findings from attachment theory, the empirical study of mentalization, and features of other evidence--based approaches. This book includes a chapter--length case illustration and an appendix that lists measures of reflective functioning in children and their parents, as well as validation articles.

book:  the anna freud tradition: lines of development...

This volume honors Anna Freud’s work and legacy by providing a detailed summary of the Psychoanalytic Developmental Tradition and illustrations of its contributions to the field of child psychotherapy and beyond. Through the use of clinical, historical, anecdotal and outreach narratives, this book seeks to acknowledge how, regardless of the evolution of child psychoanalytic theory and practice and recent changes at the Anna Freud Centre in terms of a broad scope of trainings and interventions, the underlying psychoanalytic principles set by its founder continue to inform the work of clinicians and scholars, both within and outside this school of thought.

book: psychodynamic diagnostic manual 2nd edition: PDM-2

Now completely revised (over 90% new), this is the authoritative diagnostic manual grounded in psychodynamic clinical models and theories. Explicitly oriented toward case formulation and treatment planning, PDM-2 offers practitioners an empirically based, clinically useful alternative or supplement to DSM and ICD categorical diagnoses. Leading international authorities systematically address personality functioning and psychological problems of infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, including clear conceptualizations and illustrative case examples. Purchasers get access to a companion website where they can find additional case illustrations and download and print five reproducible PDM-derived rating scales in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

New to This Edition
*Significant revisions to all chapters, reflecting a decade of clinical, empirical, and methodological advances.
*Chapter with extended case illustrations, including complete PDM profiles.
*Separate section on older adults (the first classification system with a geriatric section).
*Extensive treatment of psychotic conditions and the psychotic level of personality organization.
*Greater attention to issues of culture and diversity, and to both the clinician's and patient's subjectivity.
*Chapter on recommended assessment instruments, plus reproducible/downloadable diagnostic tools.
*In-depth comparisons to DSM-5 and ICD-10-CM throughout.

Sponsoring associations include the International Psychoanalytical Association, Division 39 of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy, the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, and five other organizations.

video:  working with emotion in psychodynamic therpay

Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapies see emotion as a gateway to meaning, and emotion often provides the initial motivation leading to therapeutic change.

In this approach, emotion serves as both a container of memory and as an experiential process occurring in the moment, and therapists work with emotion in both forms to help uncover recurring patterns and resolve issues.

In this program, Dr. Norka T. Malberg discusses the mainstream psychodynamic and psychoanalytic model of emotion as well as that of mentalization-based therapy, a recent approach within this tradition. Guest experts Leslie S. Greenberg and Michael A. Tompkins ask questions as Dr. Malberg discusses excerpts from previously published videos that show emotional expression.

video:  mentalization-based therapy

Mentalization-based therapy, or MBT, is an evidence-based psychodynamic approach that is rooted in in the field of developmental research with conceptual origins in both psychoanalysis and attachment theory. It is also integrative in nature, as it incorporates elements of cognitive, psychodynamic, systemic and social-ecological under the theoretical umbrella of attachment theory.

Although MBT is known for its usefulness with patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorders (particularly clients with a history of relational trauma such as maltreatment or neglect), this model of psychotherapy has also proven to be useful with children, adolescents and families in the context of both clinical and outreach settings.

In this video Dr. Norka Malberg demonstrates the efficacy of the MBT approach with a young female client who is struggling with abandonment issues while trying to establish a healthy relationship with her mother.

video:  mentalization-based treatment with a 10-year old boy

Mentalization is an ability that most people naturally develop in late childhood involving the ability to accept that other people's actions derive from inner states and intentions, and the ability to imagine what those inner thoughts and desires might be. Similar to the ability to empathize, mentalization is key to regulating emotions and developing relationships.

Mentalization-based treatment for children seeks to help foster this ability and keep clients aged 5–12 on track developmentally.

In this video, Norka Malberg demonstrates this approach with a 10-year old boy with attention-deficit disorder. Dr. Malberg and Karin Ensink discuss highlights from the session and key elements of this therapy.

This video features an actor portraying a client on the basis of a composite of case material.

video:  comparing models of emotion in therapy

Emotion is central to all forms of therapy, yet each has a distinct model for working with it.

In this program, guest experts Leslie S. Greenberg, Norka T. Malberg, and Michael A. Tompkins discuss the common as well as differentiating factors across their respective approaches to emotion in an effort to understand both why such different models developed and whether there is the potential for a shared model.

After examining video clips to compare and contrast the different approaches, the guest experts highlight common factors, such as the importance of emotional arousal and therapist awareness of emotion, as well as differences in areas such as the origin of emotion and how it is conceptualized.

This candid conversation is intended to spark further discussion and expand viewers' understanding of this therapeutically central phenomenon.

Book: Working with Emotion in Psychodynamic Cognitive Behavior, and Emotion-Focused Psychotherapy