Lessons from the Field: Attachment Series Workshop #1

WORKSHOP TITLE:
What is attachment….REALLY? (Event Flyer - PDF)

PRESENTER:
Martha Farrell Erickson, PhD

PANEL RESPONDENTS:
Pi-Nian Chang, PhD, LP
Mary Chessney, RN,CPNP,MS
Anne Gearity, PhD, LICSW

DATE: 
October 18, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

LOCATION: 
Johnson Room, McNamara Alumni Center
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Campus

CONTENT:
Drawing on over 30 years of longitudinal research at the University of Minnesota, this presentation provided a detailed foundation for understanding parent-child attachment and its importance to individual and family development. The primary focus was on how different patterns of attachment develop between child and parent/care-giver and how those patterns affect development and relationships across the lifespan. The presentation also addressed misconceptions regarding attachment theory and practice as well as included research findings on factors shown to enable individuals to move beyond unhealthy attachment histories, with a specific emphasis on recent research on "attachment state of mind."   The workshop also provided attendees with a knowledge of attachment resources and expertise currently available at the University of Minnesota.

GOAL:
To provide human services professionals, social workers, educators and parents with an understanding of attachment research and theory and its implications for practice.

OBJECTIVES:
This workshop provided attendees with the ability to:

1.  Understand the research related to attachment and its implications for practice.

2.  Identify and discern the major types of parent-child attachment and the antecedents and long-term consequences of each.

3.  Understand and respond to special challenges often confronted in the development of attachment by parents of infants that are premature or face disruption or trauma in the early years of life.

4.  Identify the primary factors that commonly underlie parents’ capacity to foster secure attachment with their children.

5.  Describe what is meant by "state of mind with respect to remembered attachment" and how this relates to parents’ likely responses to their own children.