Trust in communication and communication for trust 

Parallel lecture (P10)

THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION: THE ROLE OF EPISTEMIC TRUST AND MENTALIZING
Prof. Martin DEBBANÉ 

In this presentation, we will discuss key processes and factors involved in therapeutic communication. Building on research from developmental psychology and resilience studies, we first introduce some of the most salient psychological factors contributing and sustaining mental health. Then drawing on research in different therapeutic settings, we outline what appears to constitute the fundamental processes involved in therapeutic communication. Initial contact between the help-seeker and the caregiving resource is determined at the individual, interpersonal and contextual levels. The experience of being listened to and the possibility to perceive the caregiving intention is critical to the initial contact. We further develop the concept of mentalizing as a cornerstone in the listening process. The experience of being sensitively mentalized is thought to strongly contribute to fostering trust, not only between the communicative dyad, but specifically fosters trust on the value of the information communicated by the caregiving resource. Epistemic trust represents the attribution of trust in a source of knowledge, wherein information can be considered relevant to the self, pertinent to one’s understand of the context, and generalisable to real-life settings. When therapeutic communication can not only sustain the feeling of being listened to, also actively understood, the rekindling of epistemic trust critically contributes to the generalisability of the therapeutic effect beyond the communicative exchange. We will seek to frame this overall process in a social evolutionary approach to therapeutic communication leading to learning from experience. 

TRANSFORM YOURSELF BY COMMUNICATING. 

In the context of philosophical practices, the '5 rules' encourage mutual growth through: the valorization of differences; dialogic comparison; the biographical anchoring (to one's own experience) of what is communicated; the free exchange of experiences that is not a mere contrast of theses; respect and empathy towards others, avoiding the superposition of one's own interpretations on what the interlocutor expresses; the appreciation of different points of view, even when perceived as unusual or difficult; the simultaneous suspension of judgment which favors the awareness and emerge of one's own shadow sides.
Communicating is a transformative and growth practice.