reflective functioning in mothers struggling with addiction. Using strategies developed with mentalization-based therapy, MIO places an emphasis on restoring the capacity for mentalization in intensely emotional situations.
Researchers are especially enthusiastic about MIO because it is an evidence-based treatment practice. Evidence-based treatments are recovery strategies that have been researched scientifically, shown to be effective by being successfully replicated in more than one study and considered to be beneficial to different people.
The MIO technique has now been tested through two randomized trials. In both instances, MIO was compared with Parent Education (PE), which consists of 12 sessions where mothers review selected pamphlets with a counselor. Both trials showed that MIO provides more effective results than PE. In the second trial, MIO was shown to decrease the rate of heroin abuse among the mothers who participated.
