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GXC 2025 Online Virtual Conference - Mental Health Without Borders

Rebuilding Trust, Restoring Self: Mentalization-Based Therapy for Complex PTSD"

Tamara Ventura, MSc, Ph.D.
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Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Define and describe the core features of complex PTSD and explain how disruptions in mentalization contribute to its clinical presentation.

  • Identify key principles of mentalization-based treatment (MBT) and demonstrate how they can be applied to support clients with complex PTSD

  • Explain the concept of epistemic trust and evaluate its role in both the development and treatment of complex PTSD.

  • Apply specific clinical strategies aimed at fostering mentalization and restoring epistemic trust within the therapeutic relationship

Educational Goal

Participants will expand their clinical skillset by gaining an in-depth understanding of how Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) can be used to treat individuals with complex PTSD. This session promotes professional growth by equipping clinicians with strategies to foster reflective functioning, restore epistemic trust, and support long-term recovery in clients impacted by chronic relational trauma and attachment disruption.

Description

This presentation explores the treatment of complex PTSD (C-PTSD) through a mentalization-based framework, emphasizing the pivotal role of epistemic trust in the therapeutic process. Complex PTSD, often rooted in chronic trauma and attachment disruptions, presents with difficulties in emotional regulation, a fragmented sense of self, and interpersonal dysfunction. Mentalization—the capacity to understand one’s own and others’ behaviors as driven by underlying mental states—is frequently impaired in individuals with C-PTSD. This impairment often stems from early relational trauma, where caregivers failed to provide a coherent and reflective understanding of the child's inner world. The presentation highlights how fostering mentalization can help rebuild a coherent sense of self and enhance relational stability. Central to this therapeutic approach is the concept of epistemic trust: the ability to accept new knowledge from others as trustworthy and relevant. In individuals with C-PTSD, epistemic trust is often severely compromised, resulting in a profound difficulty in engaging with social information, including therapeutic input. The presentation will examine how the therapeutic relationship, when structured to promote safety, curiosity, and validation, can gradually restore epistemic trust. Through this lens, therapy becomes not only a process of emotional healing but also one of re-opening the mind to meaningful learning from others. Case examples and clinical strategies will be used to illustrate how therapists can support the development of mentalizing capacities while simultaneously re-establishing epistemic trust, thereby creating the conditions for sustained psychological growth and symptom relief in individuals struggling with the complex legacy of trauma.

Presenters

Tamara Ventura, MSc, Ph.D.
Dr. Tamara Ventura Wurman is a medically trained psychiatrist recognized by the General Medical Council as a registered specialist in both General Adult Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy. In addition, she holds an endorsement in Liaison Psychiatry and has substantial experience in Perinatal Psychiatry. Dr. Ventura Wurman holds both an MSc and a PhD in Psychoanalysis from University College London (UCL), where she is currently an Honorary Research Associate. She also serves as a tutor at the Anna Freud Centre. Originally trained as a medical doctor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile—the top-ranked university in Latin America—Dr. Ventura Wurman graduated with the highest distinction and ranked among the top ten students. She went on to specialize in Psychiatry at the same institution, completing postgraduate diplomas in the Neurobiological and Evolutionary Bases of Psychiatry and in the Theoretical Foundations and Clinical Practice of Psychotherapy. In Chile, Dr. Ventura Wurman worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist, providing both inpatient and outpatient care, with a focus on liaison psychiatry and expert witness evaluations. In 2014, she moved to London to pursue advanced studies at UCL, contribute to psychotherapy research, and work as an honorary psychotherapist at the Camden Psychotherapy Unit. She also completed the Post Foundation Course at the Institute of Psychoanalysis in London. Dr. Ventura Wurman later joined the prestigious Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust for higher training in dual specialties—General Adult Psychiatry and Medical Psychotherapy—after ranking first nationally among applicants and receiving the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Alexander Mezey Prize. During this period, she trained as a Mentalisation-Based Therapy (MBT) practitioner, gained additional experience in Liaison and Perinatal Psychiatry, and began training as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist. Her doctoral research at UCL led to the development of a measure of therapist competence in brief Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT), which is now used in training at the Anna Freud Centre. This work reflects Dr. Ventura Wurman’s dedication to integrating clinical practice with academic research to support meaningful psychological change and improved mental well-being.