The Origins of the Embodied Self:

Parental Embodied Mentalising

Dana Shai, Ph.D.
sdhana@idc.ac.il
Mentalisation
percelvlng, undersLandlng, and lnLerpreung acuons/
behavlours ln Lerms of lnLenuonal menLal sLaLes
8ehavlour predlcLable and meanlngful
AecL regulauon and self-organlsauon
ConsLrucLed ln Lhe auachmenL relauonshlp
romoLes secure auachmenL
(lonagy, Cergely, !urlsL, & 1argeL, 2002, lonagy, Cergely, & 1argeL, 2007)
2 2
Empirical Findings
- arenLal menLallslng and auachmenL securlLy
Arnou & Melns, 2007, lonagy, SLeele, & SLeele, 1991, Melns, lernyhough, lradley, & 1uckey, 2001, Slade,
8ernbach, Crlenenberger, WohlgemuLh Levy, & Locker, 2003
- Chlld's auachmenL securlLy and menLallslng
lonagy, 1997, Melns, lernyhough, 8ussell, & Clark-CarLer, 1998
- arenLal menLallslng and chlld's soclo-emouonal
developmenL
lonagy eL al.,1993, 2002, kaLz & Wlndercker-nelson, 2004, Melns eL al., 2002, 2003, Sharp &
lonagy, 2008
Measuring Parental Mentalising
arenLal 8l - ul (Slade, 2002, 2003, Slade, 8ernbach, Crlenenberger, Levy, & Locker, 2004)
lnslghuulness AssessmenL (Cppenhelm, koren-karle, & Sagl, 2001)
Mlnd-Mlndedness (Melns 1997, 1999)
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Verbal Parental Mentalising
8l lnlually used lnLerchangeably wlLh
menLallsauon
1be tetm kl tefets to tbe !"#$%&!'%()*%&!' of
tbe psycboloqlcol ptocesses ooJetlyloq tbe
copoclty to meotollse (lonagy eL al., 2002, p. 24)
kl ls oo !+#$, .%')/#*,%&!', lo '%$$%&+#, of
oo loJlvlJools meotollsloq copoclty (Slade, 2003, p. 269)
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Intermediate Summary
1. 8y one year of age Lhe lnfanL has esLabllshed an lWM of Lhe
auachmenL relauonshlp wlLh prlmary careglver
2. arenLal menLallslng predlcLs Lhls auachmenL securlLy
represenLauon of Lhe chlld and oLher developmenLal ouLcomes
3. arenLal menLallslng ls measured Lo daLe solely vla verbal
assessmenLs
4. We can comforLably assume LhaL very young chlldren cannoL
comprehend Lhe subLleues of Lhe conLenL of speech of parenLs
when Lalklng Lo or abouL Lhem
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BUT
WhaL ls Lhe preverbal chlld's expetleoce of relauonshlp
wlLh moLher?
WhaL ls Lhe mecboolsm Lhrough whlch parenLal menLal
capaclues come Lo shape Lhose of lnfanL?
Lvldence for lndependenL neural mechanlsms for
expllclL and lmpllclL menLallslng (e.g., Lleberman, 2007)
Some oLher form of communlcauon whlch makes sense
Lo Lhe lnfanL, ls llkely Lo be Laklng place: !"!#$%&'(
)!*$%'+,#$ +"../!)+',"!
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Nonverbal Developmental Research
Lye-conLacL/ gaze pauerns
(8eebe, 2000, 8eebe & Lachmann, 1998, logel, 1993, !ae & leldsLeln, 1970, 1revarLhen, 1979)
vocal rhyLhms
(8eebe, !ae, Lachmann, leldsLeln, Crown, & !asnow, 2000, apousek & apousek, 1987)
Pead movemenLs (8eebe & SLern, 1977, 8eebe eL al., 2010, !ae eL al., 2001)
Where whole body - elLher caLegorlcal/dlscreLe
or noL dyadlc
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Parental Embodied Mentalising
8econcepLuallslng parenLal menLallslng
non-declarauve, lmpllclL, ouL of awareness
A way of knowlng Lhrough Lhe body
lnvesugauon Lhrough Lhe klnaesLheuc lens
SubLle movemenL quallues - 'bow' raLher Lhan
'wbot', Lhe sboJe, noL Lhe coloot
lnLenuonal menLal sLaLes as whole-body
klnaesLheuc manlfesLauons
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Parental Embodied Mentalising (PEM): Definition
1. 1he capaclLy Lo lmpllclLly concelve, comprehend, and
exLrapolaLe Lhe lnfanL's menLal sLaLes from Lhe
lnfanL's wbole-boJy klooestbeuc exptessloos, and
2. Ad[usL one's own klnaesLheuc pauerns accordlngly.
Theoretical Background of PEM
1he bodlly self (lreud, 1923)
1he lndwelllng of Lhe psyche ln Lhe soma
(Wlnnlcou, 1936, 1960, 1962)
Mlnd = syche + Soma (Wlnnlcou, 1949, 1988)
Skln ego Secondary skln
(8lck, 1968, Anzleu, 1989, Mcuougall, 1989, Cgden, 1989, 1usun, 1992).
MoLorlc ego CharacLer Armour (Lowen, 1938, 8elch, 1933).
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Relational approach to PEM
012#$# )* '! *342 ,2)'5 %* % 6!789 ,2#$# )* !'(8 % 6!78 )'
$#(%&!'*2)" :),2 %'!,2#$ 6!78;
(Crbach, 2004, p. 28)
8elauonal dlalecuc bodlly self (Aron, 1998, WhlLe, 2004, Wlnnlcou, 1962)
SysLems Lheory (e.g., logel, 1993, Sander, 1977)
1he body as a bldlrecuonal plauorm of relauonal
experlences
Lmbodled AuachmenL
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Vitality Affects
Mooy poollues of feelloq tbot occot Jo oot ft loto oot exlsuoq
lexlcoo ot toxooomy of o[ects. 1bese eloslve poollues ote beuet
coptoteJ by 78'%.)49 <)'#&4 tetms, socb os sotqloq, foJloq
owoy, feeuoq...we ote oevet wltboot tbelt pteseoce, :2#,2#$
!$ '!, :# %$# 4!'*4)!3* !/ ,2#....tbe lofoot ls )..#$*#7 lo
tbese feelloqs of vltollty...,2# *!4)%( :!$(7 #="#$)#'4#7 68 ,2#
)'/%', )* "$).%$)(8 !'# !/ +),%(),8 %>#4,* 6#/!$# ), )* % :!$(7 !/
/!$.%( %4,*? (5teto, 1985, pp. 54-57).
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PEM Construct- Premises
1. MenLal sLaLes can, and are, expressed bodlly and
klnaesLheucally
2. Cne's lnLerpreLauon of Lhe klnaesLheuc lncldenLs of
anoLher as expresslons of menLal sLaLes generaLes a
change ln Lhe movemenL of Lhe one observlng or
lnLeracung wlLh Lhe mover
3. 1he degree Lo whlch a parenL can lnLerpreL Lhe lnfanL's
klnaesLheuc occurrences as menLallsuc lncldenLs, and
as a resulL respond Lo Lhem klnesLheucally, can serve as
an assessmenL of parenLal menLallsauon.
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Measuring PEM
8ooLed ln MovemenL Analysls paradlgms
(e.g. kesLenberg, 1967, 1973, Laban & 8od, 1973, Shahar-Levl, 2004)
An observauonal dyadlc measure
locus on klnaesLheuc and rhyLhmlc expresslons
of lnLenuonallLy
Lmbodled clrcles of rupLure and repalr
(e.g., 8en[amln, 1998, Creenspan & Wleder, 1997,1ronlck, 1989)
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PEM coding System
Cbservauonal
no verbal lnpuL = 'muLe' mode
Analysls unlL - Lmbodled Clrcle of Communlcauon (LCC):
A mulu-sLep nonverbal dlalogue ln whlch Lwo acuve paruclpanLs
respond Lo Lhe klnesLheucally manlfesLed menLal sLaLes of each
oLher ln a reclprocal fashlon (Creenspan & Wleder, 1997).
ldenufylng Lemporal boundarles of LCCs
Classlfylng LCC accordlng Lo Lype and subLype
Scorlng a Clobal LM score
Kinaesthetic Qualities
0$!1)"! 2("3 (dlsLress vs. comforL)
0$.4" (degree of exclLauon)
5)%$+,"!'()*6 (pleasure vs. dlspleasure)
7'*83'61 (execuung lnLenL)
94'+$ (self and lnLerpersonal boundarles)
98):)!; (managlng change)
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PEM ECC Types
<= >.&"?)$? 9/44"%*
a. Poldlng
b. Sculpung
@= A"?6 B3!$%18)4
a. laclllLaung aecL regulauon
b. 8ody manlpulauon
c. 8ody sumulauon
C= 0%'!1),"!1
D= 7%".",!; >E4("%',"!
Study Design
130 dyads from Lhe nlCPu SLudy
LonglLudlnal sLudy - 6, 13, 34 monLhs
lv: LM, maLernal sensluvlLy
uv: auachmenL securlLy, soclal, academlc, and
behavloural ouLcomes
Main findings
Clobal LM scores correlaLed wlLh PCML maLernal
sensluvlLy (t
(148)
= .33***)
Clobal LM scores predlcLed secure vs. lnsecure
auachmenL securlLy !
2
(3, n=130)
= 4.07*
Speclcally secure vs. avoldanL lnfanLs !
2
(3, n=100)
= 3.89**
Main findings
Clobal LM Scores, LCC Lype, and LCC lengLh each
predlcLed auachmenL securlLy over an above maLernal
sensluvlLy
MaLernal sensluvlLy was no longer predlcuve of
auachmenL securlLy
Main findings
Multinomial Logistic Regression Predicting Attachment from ECC Mean Length
Avoidant (A) Resistant (C)
Model and Predictor Variable
Maternal Sensitivity Not Controlled
ECC Type 1.06*** .17
ECC Length 1.19** 1.13
Global PEM .41*** .59
Maternal Sensitivity Controlled
ECC Type .11*** .19**
ECC Length
1.18** 1.12
Global PEM .50* .69
Maternal sensitivity
.84 .87
Thank you!
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