Join us to explore this important topic with Dr. Judith Solomon, Ph.D.

The disorganized attachment classification group, defined by Main and Solomon about thirty years ago, is a later addition to Ainsworth’s A, B, C system and is the group considered most likely to be at clinical risk. This seminar introduced clinical trainees to the identifying features of this group and will summarize what is known about etiology, developmental outcomes and effective early intervention. Original research pinpointed the mother’s experience of relationship-based trauma such as loss and abuse as causal factors, but it is now believed that a variety of past and current stresses, including the child’s experience of major separations and neglect, contribute to its development. Disorganized attachment has been linked to child aggression with peers and dissociation and suicidal ideation in adolescence and early adulthood. In the clinical context, disorganized attachment is most readily identified by (1) the mother’s perception of herself as helpless and her child as “out of control” or not needing her because s/he is precociously competent and (2) child role reversal in the form of aggression and solicitousness toward mother. Clinical intervention therefore focuses on understanding the source of the mothers’ helplessness, helping to correct her misperception and misunderstanding of her child’s behavior and assisting her in assuming the role of the “stronger, wiser, kinder” member of the partnership.

At the end of the session, participants were able to:

1. Define disorganized attachment and caregiving

2. Recognize and explain how disorganized attachments differ from normative secure and insecure attachments

3. Recognize how clients might tell them they and/or their child are "out of control"

4. Understand how research methods such as doll play and maternal interview can be adapted for use in clinical assessment and treatment planning

5. Understand the the main limitations in current research knowledge about these relationships