May 6 – 8 and 20 – 22, 2024
9 a.m. – 1 p.m. PDT (Seattle time)
via Zoom

This course focuses on the development, prevention and treatment of psychological disorder from infancy to adulthood. It weaves together theory, human development, assessment, case examples and treatment applications to reframe maladaptive behavior in terms of strategies for self-protection. The course emphasizes the process of adaptation and developmental pathways that carry risk for psychopathology. The course is aimed at professionals who work with troubled families or individuals, including, psychiatrists, psychologists, lawyers, social workers, teachers and nurses.

The aspects of neural development to be covered are chosen to enhance treatment of psychological maladaptation of adults and children (including families with child maltreatment, psychiatric disorder, and criminality). The course emphasizes adaptation and ways that professionals can change to increase the probability that clients will change. Reorganisation and building resilience are treated as central to successful intervention. General and Family Functional Formulations will be introduced to highlight DMM Integrative Treatment.

The model used is the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation. The DMM is a strength-based model that is relevant to individuals who are at-risk, have been exposed to danger, display disturbed or maladaptive behaviour, or are diagnosed as having a psychiatric disorder. Emphasis is given to how early and current attachment relationships explain maladaptive behaviour and how these tied to culture and dangerous conditions.

Patricia M. Crittenden, PhD is a developmental psychopathologist with many years’ experience as an academic and practitioner in child maltreatment, attachment theory and family therapy. She was taught by Mary Ainsworth and was on the Faculties of Psychology at the Universities of Virginia and Miami. She held visiting positions at the Universities of Helsinki and Bologna, the Clark Institute of Psychiatry (Canada), San Diego State University (USA) and Edith Cowan University (Australia). She developed the Dynamic-Maturational Model (DMM) of Attachment and Adaptation and is one of the founders of the International Association for the Study of Attachment (IASA). In 2004, she received a Career Achievement Award from the European Family Therapy Association. She has published more than 150 scientific papers and several books.