Mentalizing during training: Epistemic trust, transformative experiences and the role of the mentor in occupational identity development

Mentalizing has been conceptualized as the ability to understand oneself or others, and thus as a form of imagery capable of grasping the causal factors underlying overt behaviors and covert reasoning alike. Higher mentalizing skills have been shown to protect the individual against mental distress, through the promotion of effective coping skills and emotional competency. This finding has instigated several empirical studies on the topic, with the quest of characterizing the interplay between early life experiences and later distress. But apart from childhood and adolescence, adults may also reshape their mentalizing abilities, particularly while in education or training. The fundamental role exerted by parental figures during development is mirrored in education or training by different role-models (e.g., teachers, mentors, tutors), fostering the (re)definition of personal and occupational identities. Specific professions are more interested in this phenomenon, which is nonetheless general and transversal to each occupation. For instance, the role of the mentor in medical training has been observed as crucial to promote a later positive sense of accomplishment during work or training, harboring resilience against emotional exhaustion in face of moral injuries to one's own practice (e.g., the death of a patient, policy, and economic limitations). By contrast, mistreatment, objectification, or frank exploitation suppress the positive reinforcement of identity development, increasing the risk for later burnout. The current chapter reviews the existing evidence on the topic of mentor-mentee relationships, as nurturing mentalizing skills during adult life and exerting a pivotal influence on resilience and burnout. A novel perspective on mentalizing in relation to transformative experiences is proposed. An overarching role for mentors in promoting epistemic trust and self-worth is discussed. Finally, the implications of these findings for specific professions are considered, extending Corson's model of vocational education (1985).