Compassionate Leeds: Introduction to mentalization

Join the Compassionate Leeds Programme team for an engaging and reflective session exploring Anna Freud's concept of mentalizing—the ability to understand ourselves and others in terms of thoughts, feelings and intentions.

This session is designed for professionals working with children and families who are curious about how mentalizing can enhance their practice and relationships.

Through interactive discussion and practical exercises, participants will:

• Develop a clear understanding of what mentalizing is
• Learn to recognise the markers of mentalizing and non-mentalizing
• Practice explicit mentalizing and reflect on its impact
• Begin to explore how mentalizing can support compassionate, trauma-informed work with children and families

Whether you're new to the concept or looking to deepen your understanding, this session offers a supportive space to learn, reflect, and grow.

Who can attend?

The session is open to anyone who supports children, young people and families in Leeds, in all sectors, whether that’s as a volunteer, a practitioner, an operational manager or a strategic leader.

This may also interest those working across the adults health & care partnership. We know that children come with adults and very quickly become adults and we would welcome people working with adults across Leeds to support our shared understanding and language around trauma informed practice.

Background:

The Compassionate Leeds programme came about in response to feedback and reflections from families and young people and professionals in Leeds as part of Future in Mind consultations and conversations, regarding experiences of adversity for children and young people in Leeds, and growing evidence for adversity aware, trauma informed system change. The Compassionate Leeds strategy, published in 2023, describes the ambition for Leeds to become a trauma informed city and sets out an approach to achieving this. This included the formation of a new Compassionate Leeds programme team, a multi-agency team responsible for cultivating a trauma informed approach to respond to the impact of trauma and adversity in the lives of young people in Leeds.

The Compassionate Leeds programme team is helping services, teams and individuals, from across the multi-agency partnership (health, education, social care, third sector) of support for children, young people and families, on their trauma-informed journey. Through sharing information, facilitating reflection and cultivating curiosity, the team help others to weave trauma informed approaches into their ways of thinking, doing and being, whether that is as practitioners, operational managers or strategic leaders.

You can find more information regarding the programme team on the Compassionate Leeds Trauma Informed Information Hub or email itipcommunityofpractice@leeds.gov.uk.