Interpersonal skills training for the emergency department – exploring a mentalizing approach

Patients with significant relational difficulties may present to the Emergency Department (ED) in crisis. If negative attitudes and responses arise from ED staff, this adversely impacts patients’ outcomes. There is currently no established approach to training ED staff in interpersonal skills. Mentalizing Skills (MZ Skills) is a short training course in interpersonal skills that has shown promise within mental health settings, but has not yet been explored in the ED. We therefore conducted an evaluation of MZ Skills within an ED to explore if this approach may be useful and acceptable. Outcomes were assessed using established self-report outcome scales. A hundred and seven (107) clinicians were trained in MZ Skills. From pre- to post- training, staff knowledge about mentalizing theory and practice improved (n=97; effect size 1.07); attitudes improved to a smaller degree. We suggest, pending further evaluation, that MZ skills could offer an acceptable approach for training ED staff in interpersonal dynamics.