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Objective: No systematic review was identified investigating the influence of perceived therapist credibility on treatment outcomes. Extant treatment credibility reviews have focused on early perceptions without considering influence of various therapy phases. This study aimed to examine the relationship between perceived treatment and therapist credibility and treatment outcomes, while considering the timing of the credibility assessment as a potential moderator., Method: Articles published in English peer-reviewed journals containing at least one quantitative measure of credibility and treatment outcome regarding face-to-face therapist-delivered interventions were eligible. PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Embase online databases were last searched on April 5th, 2023, and the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool was used to assess the study quality. Correlations between treatment credibility and outcomes, and therapist credibility were calculated separately., Results: Analysis of 27 studies revealed a positive association between perceived treatment credibility and treatment outcome ( r  = 0.15,95%CI = 0.09,0.21, p  < 0.001, n  = 2061). Nine studies showed a strong association between perceived therapist credibility and outcome ( r  = 0.35,95%CI = 0.18,0.51; p  < .001 ,n  = 1161). No significant moderator found in both meta-analyses., Conclusion: Findings suggest that clients' perceptions of higher credibility - whether concerning the treatment or the therapist - are associated with better therapeutic outcomes. Constraints in inclusion criteria and the small sample size in eligible studies were notable limitations.

The article explores ideas about the role of group mentalizing-the experience of joint attention and shared intentionality-as a process that can support the emergence of more collaborative and salutogenic social functioning. This is based on developmental and evolutionary thinking about the importance of joint attention in human social cognitive development and functioning. The importance of experiencing rupture and repair as part of the process of thinking together-while also working with the separate nature of our thoughts-is described, emphasizing that it is through an understanding of the complex and inevitably uneven and challenging nature of joint attention and social cooperation that such cooperation is itself made possible.

This article sets out the relevance of recent theoretical developments in the areas of mentalizing, attachment and epistemic trust in relation to group therapy. It begins with an account of the role of mentalizing in the attachment context in the development of epistemic trust-defined as trust in the authenticity and personal relevance of interpersonally transmitted knowledge about how the social environment works. It then explains the particular way in which this emphasis on social communication is pertinent to group therapy and its function as a training ground for mentalizing and the initial experimentation with the opening of epistemic trust in a social context. The article finishes with an account of how mentalization-based group work is undertaken.