About us
Join a growing community of CAToM Practitioners exploring how Theory of Mind can be applied to real-world situations.
Take part in hands-on workshops and learning experiences designed for anyone interested in understanding human behavior, perspectives, and what may be happening beneath the surface of our interactions.
- Entrepreneurs & business owners
- Coaches, therapists & consultants
- Managers, team leads & HR professionals
- Psychologists, educators & other people-focused professionals
- Anyone interested in human behavior, communication, relationships, and leadership
Together, we'll explore how we make sense of other people's behavior, how our own assumptions shape what we see, and how we can become more curious and flexible when navigating different perspectives.
Using the CAToM Framework, we’ll turn these ideas into practical skills for observing behavior, exploring possible mental states, shifting perspectives, and working with uncertainty about what is happening in another person's mind.
Core Concepts of the Framework
Non-Clinical Mentalization: The framework draws heavily from clinical research on Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) and Theory of Mind, but adapts it into a tool for everyday personal and organizational use. It is based on the Mastering Mentalization book series.
Strong Focus on Cognitive States: It moves beyond typical emotional intelligence models by teaching people to map out what others know, believe, and intend.
Behavior Explanation and Prediction: By teaching individuals to look at how people think instead of just what they do, it allows for more accurate judgments and fewer social misunderstandings.
This group is part of our ongoing work at the Center for Applied Theory of Mind (CAToM) to bring mentalization into everyday life, professional practice, and leadership.
We’d love to have you join us.
Upcoming events
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ONLINE WORKSHOP: Reading the Room
Location not specified yetLearning to See the Mind Behind the Behavior by Applying the CAToM Framework
What happens when we stop asking “What is wrong with this person?” and start asking “What might be happening in this person's mind?”
Mentalization is the ability to make sense of our own and other people's behavior in terms of underlying mental states — thoughts, feelings, intentions, wishes, and beliefs.
Knowing the theory is a great start. Applying it is where the real value begins.
In this small-cohort online workshop, we will use selected film scenes as a structured laboratory for practicing mentalization in real time, using the CAToM Framework to guide how we observe, interpret, and work with different perspectives.
Reserve your place
September 9th at 19:00 WET (Lisbon) · 20:00 CET (Berlin) · 14:00 ET (New York) · 11:00 PT (Los Angeles)Before the workshop
You'll receive immediate access to a 45-minute preparation video introducing the key concepts of mentalization.
This is the only preparation required before the live session.
The purpose of this preparation is to give you a shared conceptual foundation so we can immediately move into practice during the workshop.During the 3-hour live Zoom workshop
All practice, observation, and application takes place during the live session.
Using selected film scenes together, we will explore questions such as:- What can we actually observe — and what are we assuming?
- What might this person be thinking or feeling?
- Is this person mentalizing about others?
- What might they believe about the other person?
- How might different people understand the same interaction differently?
- What happens when we become overly certain about another person's mind?
- How can we hold several possible perspectives at once?
- How are perspectives shaped during mentalizing?
The aim isn't to make the perfect inference but to increase accuracy in our perceptions of others.
It's to practice curiosity, perspective taking, gaining, shifting and shaping, and tolerance of uncertainty about other minds in real time.This workshop is for you if…
You are interested in mentalization and want to move beyond theory into practice.This workshop is particularly relevant for people working in fields where understanding human behavior, intention, credibility, and perspective is central to decision-making and communication, such as psychology, legal practice, education, leadership, or anyone interested in understanding human interaction more deeply.
Whether you are assessing credibility, navigating conflict, making decisions about people, or simply trying to understand others more accurately, the CAToM Framework offers a powerful mentalization framework for slowing down inferences and expanding perspective.
Format
- 45-minute preparation video (on-demand, accessed immediately after registration)
- 3-hour live Zoom workshop (all practice takes place here)
- Structured observation worksheet used during the live session
- Small group: maximum 8–10 participants
You will receive access to the preparation material immediately after registration so you can begin right away.
Trainer
Anique van der Putten is a practicing psychologist, author of the Mastering Mentalization book series, and the founder of the Center for Applied Theory of Mind (CAToM).Her work focuses on translating psychological concepts such as theory of mind and mentalization into practical applications that help people better understand themselves and others, improve performance, and strengthen well-being.
Through CAToM, she develops assessments, training, consultancy, and learning programs for individuals, professionals, and organizations—turning a complex psychological ability into something that can actually be practiced and applied.
Her perspective is shaped by an unusual combination of psychology, organizational experience, international work across the Netherlands, Kenya, India and Portugal, and years of observing how people behave when the stakes are real.
Anique regularly writes about social dynamics, mentalization and workplace psychology on Medium. Her commentary on corporate culture has been featured in Business Insider.
Pricing (Founding cohort)
To support the first cohort of this workshop, a limited number of founder places are available:
€89 founder price (limited to first participants)
Places are strictly limited to 8–10 participants to preserve the quality of interaction and guided practice.Registration
To reserve your place, please register via the official checkout on our event page:#### Waitlist only: Registration is closed, but you can sign up with the form on the events page in case someone cancels.
After payment, you will immediately receive access to the preparation course and all workshop materials via Teachery.
Please note: Meetup is being used to announce the workshop. Your place is confirmed only after completing payment through the registration link on our website.
Practical information & disclosures
- All materials (preparation video, worksheet, and Zoom link) are included in your access.
- You will have access to the materials for 2 months.
- Access to the preparation material is granted immediately after purchase.
- The live session takes place on the date and time stated at registration.
- You are not required to turn on your camera, but participation is strongly encouraged for the best learning experience.
- Workshop will be recorded (Zoom session recording). The recording is used for quality assurance. The recording will remain private and will not be published or shared with anyone outside the small team involved in reviewing and improving the workshop. By registering, you consent to being part of a recorded group session.
Organization
At CAToM, we are dedicated to advancing the understanding and practical application of mentalization and theory of mind concepts. We translate scientific research in the fields of mentalization and theory of mind into actionable insights and tools that empower individuals, teams and organizations to negotiate social situations effectively.We cultivate mentalization skills through a variety of methods, including online assessments, training and consulting, in-person programs, specialized workshops and comprehensive publications. Additionally, we guide individuals, professionals and organizations with the integration of these insights and techniques into their personal life and work procedures to enhance performance.
Read more about our organization: www.appliedtom.com
Get in touch: Contact1 attendee
