This course introduces the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of attachment and adaptation and ties it to risk assessment and treatment. The DMM differs from the usual ABC plus "disorganization" model of attachment by (1) focusing on differences within the risk group, (2) highlighting a strengths approach to working with parents and children at risk, and (3) presuming that maturation and development increase individuals' potential for adaptation.

The course describes an array of patterns of attachment relationships and strategies for self-protection. The course focuses on development from infancy to adulthood (including old age). It emphasizes the process of adaptation and those developmental pathways that carry risk for psychopathology. At each age, the approaches to prevention and treatment are considered.

The model used is Crittenden's Dynamic-Maturational Model of attachment and adaptation, (DMM), an expansion of the Bowlby-Ainsworth model to ages beyond infancy. The DMM is particularly relevant to individuals who are in at-risk situations, have been exposed to danger, display disturbed or maladaptive behavior, or are diagnosed as having a psychiatric disorder. The course is also relevant to longitudinal approaches to attachment, to the development of emotional and behavioral disorder, and to cross-generational issues. A particular emphasis in the course is cultural influences on the distribution of the patterns.

The course is structured developmentally and consists of lecture with slides, videotapes, and interview transcripts to demonstrate the patterns and principles of development. A set of readings and exercises, tied to each day's material, are offered. In addition, an introduction is given to each of the DMM assessments of pattern of attachment.

These include:

• the CARE-Index (infancy from birth to 24 months)
• the Ainsworth Strange Situation (11-15 months)
• the Preschool Assessment of Attachment (21 months - 5 years)
• the School-age Assessment of Attachment (6-13 years)
• Family Drawings (4-13 years)
• Transition to Adulthood Attachment Interview (16-25 years)
• and the Adult Attachment Interview (25 years and older).

Day 1

• AM Evolution, danger and brain
  Infancy
• PM CARE - Index videotapes
  Cultural influences
  Treatment implications

Day 2

• AM The Ainsworth patterns of attachment
  Ainsworth Infant Strange Situation (SSP) videotapes
• PM Preschool development and the dynamic-maturational expansion of the Ainsworth model
  The organization of the coercive strategy and compulsive subpatterns
  Cross-generational transformations
  Treatment implications in infancy and the preschool years

Day 3

• AM Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA) videotapes
• PM School-age development and the organization of obsessive and deceptive strategies
  Family drawings
  School-age Assessment of Attachment (SAA)
  Treatment implications from 6 years to puberty

Day 4

• AM Adolescent development and the integration of sexuality with attachment
  Transition to Adulthood Attachment Interview (TAAI)
  Treatment in adolescence and the transition to adulthood
• PM Development in adulthood including becoming an attachment figure to one's spouse, children, and parents
  Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI) transcript with corresponding videotape
  Treatment in a marital and familial context

Day 5

• AM An overview of adult psychopathology
• PM An summation and theoretical perspective on attachment-informed treatment

Language: This course is offered in English with English materials. A corresponding course is available in Italian with Italian materials. The course is being developed in Spanish. Courses in successive translation necessarily take longer or cover less material.