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Computer Learning

BASIC MENTALIZING

Currently under revision

Sensing and Influencing 

Understanding and Changing Minds Without Exchanging a Word

 

Basic mentalizing represents the most fundamental layer of our ability to understand others. At this level, we interpret the mental states of people largely through nonverbal signals and cues—such as facial expressions, gestures, posture, and tone of voice—often before any words are spoken.

 

With our Basic Mentalizing Course, you will dive deep into the necessary skills and discover how to read nonverbal cues, interpret mental states and make strategic behavioral choices based upon your understanding.

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Below, explore the goals, outcomes, and impact you can achieve through this course—and see how mastering basic mentalizing can transform the way you connect, communicate, and influence.

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      GOALS

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OUTCOMES

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IMPACT

Follow the Path or Cherry Pick

Our courses are designed to be taken as a complete, structured path, but you also have the freedom to explore individual components without following the path. 

Modular Courses:

BMI™ & BMC™, complete basic mentalizing course module 1, 2, or 3

  • Free Inventory
    (Assesses the section relevant to the specific module. The inventory report will be finalized and emailed within 5 business days)

  • Training Videos

  • Online Interactive Video Recap Exercise

  • Inventory Result Review Exercise
    (This is a digital PDF downloads)

  • Design Learning Plan Exercise
    (This is a digital PDF downloads)

  • ​​​​​​​​Observation exercises 
    (These are digital PDF downloads)

  • Practice exercises
    (These are digital PDF downloads)

  • Learning Gain Review

(This is a digital PDF downloads)

A La Carte Learning:

  • BMI™ Assessment Complete

    • Assess skills across all three modules 

(The inventory report will be finalized and emailed within 5 business days)​

  • BMC™ Observation Exercises

    • All observation exercises bundled

    • Standalone observation exercise

(These are digital PDF downloads)

  • BMC™ Practice Exercises: 

    • All practice exercises bundled

    • Standalone practice exercise

(These are digital PDF downloads)

TIP!: For the best experience, we recommend completing the full training module, as it is designed to build skills progressively and coherently. Each exercise builds on the previous one, allowing you to develop both understanding and application in a structured way.

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That said, you are also welcome to explore individual bundles or standalone training tools. Please keep in mind that the exercises increase in difficulty, so starting with more advanced sections without the earlier foundation may feel challenging or discouraging.

If you decide for the a la carte option we recommend ordering one of the following books:

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Mastering Mentalization: Complete Volume

(This book offers the full scope of mentalization. The courses are structured on this book.)

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Mastering Mentalization: Volume 1 Basic Mentalizing

(This book offers the full scope of basic mentalizing)

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Men•tale•izations  

(This book offers the full scope of mentalization in a story-driven way)

BMI
ASSESSMENTS

FULL BMI ASSESSMENT

Or select one of our comprehensive course modules, which include assessment (relevant section for selected module), instructional videos and guided exercises.

FULL BMC MODULE 1.
FULL BMC MODULE 2.
FULL BMC MODULE 3.

About the Basic Mentalizing Inventory
 

Do you understand what other people need, how they feel and what their intentions are—before they say it?

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The BMI™ assessment provides insight into your current basic mentalizing skills, such as:

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  • How easily are you “infected” by the moods, feelings, or behaviors of others?

  • How easily can you use these shared emotions or actions to figure out what others are thinking or feeling?

  • How well can you consciously use emotional “tuning in” to learn from others and build better connections?

  • Which nonverbal behavior of others do you rely on most to read social situations?

  • How good are you at sensing what others feel or intend just from their nonverbal cues?

  • How effectively do you use your own body language to send clear messages to others?

  • How tuned in are you to sensations inside your body—and to those that come from external sources?

  • How easily can you connect what you feel inside or sense outside with what’s causing it?

  • How skilled are you at sensing these physical sensations in others and connecting them to their cause?

  • How aware are you of the way bodily sensations affect how you understand yourself and others?

 

Our inventories draw on a variety of theories and are supported by a wide body of scientific research. Documents to review your inventory report outcomes and to design your learning plan are included.

BMC

MODULE 1

Embodied Sharing of Affect and Behavior​

​Learn how we read and influence others through our own sensorial awareness and behavior—by observing, practicing and mastering embodied sharing. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

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  • Understand why we naturally adopt the feelings and behaviors of others

  • Gain insight into your own tendencies to adopt the feelings and behaviors of others — and learn how to manage them

  • Tell the difference between your genuine feelings and actions versus those you have adopted from others

  • Read the mental states of others by noticing the emotions and behaviors you have adopted from them

  • Recognize through mimicry and affective and behavioral contagion when people are trying to connect, pull away, collaborate, or compete

  • Make sense of social dynamics like status, preferences and decision-making authority through subtle mirroring cues

  • Understand how shared emotions and behaviors shape your own experiences

  • Navigate cultural differences in emotions and social behavior more smoothly through mirroring

  • Positively influence the behavior of others through non-confrontational embodied sharing of emotions and behavior

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FULL BMC MODULE 1

INVENTORY, VIDEOS, RECAP, PREPARATION, ALL EXERCISES AND EVALUATION

B U Y

Observation Exercises (instant PDF downloads):​

BMC1 OE2

IDENTIFY FEELINGS OF OTHERS THROUGH MIMICRY AND CONTAGION

B U Y

BMC1 OE3

IDENTIFY INTENTIONS OF OTHERS THROUGH MIMICRY AND CONTAGION

B U Y

BMC1 OE4

GAIN INSIGHT INTO YOUR OWN SUSCEPTIBILITY TO MIMICRY AND CONTAGION

B U Y

Practice Exercises (instant PDF downloads):​

O V E R V I E W

BMC1 PE1

ENHANCE FOCUSED AND OPEN MONITORING ATTENTION SKILLS FOR MENTALIZING

B U Y

BMC1 PE2

REGULATE SUSCEPTIBILITY TO “CONTAGION” TURNING IT UP OR DOWN

B U Y

BMC1 PE3

ENCOURAGE RECIPROCAL MENTALIZING IN OTHERS

B U Y

BMC1 PE4

LEVERAGE MIMICRY AND CONTAGION TO INFER OTHERS’ MENTAL STATES

B U Y

BMC1 PE5

USE MENTALIZED MIMICRY AND CONTAGION STRATEGICALLY

B U Y

BMC

MODULE 2

S A M P L E

Nonverbal Social Indicator Detection

​Learn to read people better, express yourself clearly and connect with confidence—without saying a word. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

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  • Identify and interpret social signals by observing nonverbal behavior

  • Accurately understand the meanings and motives behind people’s nonverbal cues

  • Use insights from nonverbal communication to guide and improve social interactions

  • Evaluate others’ social competence and trustworthiness through their nonverbal expressions

  • Recognize and appreciate basic mentalizing challenges due to cultural differences, psychological disorders, or digital communication

  • Build self-awareness and self-control over your own nonverbal behavior

  • Express warmth, reliability, and supportiveness through positive nonverbal communication

  • Adapt your nonverbal behavior to fit different social and situational contexts
     

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FULL BMC MODULE 2

INVENTORY, VIDEOS, RECAP, PREPARATION, ALL EXERCISES AND EVALUATION

B U Y

Observation Exercises (instant PDF downloads):​

O V E R V I E W

BMC2 OE2

LEARN WHAT GESTURES AND ADAPTORS REALLY INDICATE

B U Y

BMC2 OE3

DECODING FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, EYE BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

B U Y

BMC2 OE4

DECODING VOCAL NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR

B U Y

BMC2 OE5

DECODING CONTACT CODES, IDENTITY MARKERS AND USE OF TIME

B U Y

Practice Exercises (instant PDF downloads):​

O V E R V I E W

BMC2 PE1

BASIC MENTALIZING SKILLS FOR BUILDING STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS

B U Y

BMC2 PE2

BASIC MENTALIZING SKILLS FOR ATTUNING TO OTHERS’ FEELINGS

B U Y

BMC2 PE3

BASIC MENTALIZING SKILLS TO ACT ON OTHERS’ INTENTIONS

B U Y

BMC2 PE4

MENTALIZING OTHERS’ INTERPRETION OF YOUR NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR

B U Y

BMC

MODULE 3

S A M P L E

Nonsocial Sensing and Associating

​Unbiased mentalizing, grounded in sensorial awareness, gives you clear, accurate understanding — reducing mistakes, misunderstandings and stress in your social interactions. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

 

  • Pay appropriate attention to sensations from your body, such as hunger, pain, or fatigue, and from your environment, such as bright sunlight

  • Manage and regulate your internal and external sensory experiences

  • Recognize how these sensations can influence your thoughts, emotions and behavior

  • Become aware of biases in how you connect sensations with their causes

  • Notice sensations in others and consider how these sensations may influence their thoughts, feelings and actions

  • Apply thoughtful comparisons between yourself and others to account for differences in sensory sensitivity

  • Treat others, and expect to be treated, in ways that respect individual differences in sensitivity
     

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FULL BMC MODULE 3

INVENTORY, VIDEOS, RECAP, PREPARATION, ALL EXERCISES AND EVALUATION

B U Y

Observation Exercises (instant PDF downloads):​

O V E R V I E W

BMC3 OE2

ENHANCE YOUR EXTEROCEPTIVE SELF-AWARENESS

B U Y

BMC3 OE3

ENHANCE YOUR INTEROCEPTIVE AND EXTEROCEPTIVE AWARENESS OF OTHERS

B U Y

Practice Exercises (instant PDF downloads):​

O V E R V I E W

BMC3 PE1

PREVENT BIAS IN MENTALIZING DUE TO SENSATIONS

B U Y

BMC3 PE2

MENTALIZING ACROSS CULTURES, ATYPICAL BEHAVIORS AND DIGITAL CONTEXTS

B U Y

I Want to Know More

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