Preserving hope

The author proposes that the ongoing success of the relocation of The Menninger Clinic from Kansas to Texas hinges on maintaining a balance between conservation and innovation. Focusing on the conservation side of this balance, the author highlights two concepts, one of which is ostensibly new: mentalizing, that is, attending to mental states in others and oneself-in short, holding mind in mind. Although there is much innovative research on mentalizing, particularly in its relation to attachment theory, much is conservative: Our focus on mentalizing sustains the psychotherapeutic culture. The other concept is ancient but typically more implicit than explicit in our work: hope. The author endeavors to help us hold in mind Karl Menninger and Paul Pruyser's lasting contributions to understanding and cultivating hope. Notably, these seemingly disparate concepts, mentalizing and hope, are intimately connected: Both are founded in trust.