Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast What Is Reflective Functioning? Mentalization, Attachment Theory & RF Scoring with Dr. Miriam Steele
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Mar 6, 2026 Dr. Miriam Steele, researcher, psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst known for early work on reflective functioning and attachment research. She defines reflective functioning and contrasts it with empathy. They cover origins in the London Parent-Child Project, RF’s role in predicting attachment, mentalization-based treatments for BPD and eating disorders, therapist RF’s impact on outcomes, body representations, and smartphone effects on parenting.
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RF Change May Be Psychotherapy's Mechanism Of Change
- Increasing RF is observed across modalities and may be a common mechanism of change in psychotherapy.
- Steele cites studies where transference-focused therapy and MBT increased RF and that RF change correlates with clinical improvement.
Study Parental Phone Use Through An RF Lens
- Do consider RF when studying modern parenting effects like smartphone use, because RF may buffer negative impacts.
- Steele suggests parents with higher RF might use phones differently and protect attachment quality.
Low RF Links To Body Disconnection In Eating Disorders
- Low RF appears in disorders like eating disorders through shutting down bodily and mental state awareness.
- Steele links rigidity and dampened reflective capacity to poor body awareness and mentions therapeutic goal to reignite curiosity about mind and body.