The implementation of mentalization-based treatment for adolescents: a case study from an organizational, team and therapist perspective

Background: Reports on problems encountered in the implementation of complex interventions are scarce in psychotherapy literature. This is remarkable given the inherent difficulties of such enterprises and the associated safety risks for patients involved.Case description: A case study of the problematic implementation process of Mentalization- Based Treatment for Adolescents (MBT-A), a new therapy for 14 to 18 year old youngsters with severe personality disorders, is presented. The implementation process is described and analyzed at an organizational, team and therapist level.Discussion and evaluation: Our analysis shows that problems at all three levels contributed and interacted to make the implementation cumbersome and hazardous.Conclusion: The implementation of complex psychotherapeutic programs for difficult patients could benefit from a structured attention to processes at multiple levels. We therefore propose a new comprehensive heuristic model of treatment integrity. This new model includes organisational, team and therapist adherence to the treatment model as necessary components of treatment integrity in the implementation of complex interventions. The application of this new model of treatment integrity potentially increases the chance of successful implementations and reduces safety risks for first patients enrolling in a new program.

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