Your Client's Attachment Style: What It Means and How to Work with It in Treatment

March 18, 2011
Judy Burr-Chellin, LMHC

SCA’s 2010 program survey revealed that, more than any other topic, members wished to learn more about Attachment Theory and how aspects of attachment manifest in client issues and within the therapist/client relationship. This presentation will provide an overview of the basic concepts of Attachment Theory and explore how this theory may come into play when working with adult clients. Citing the work of John Bowlby, Mary Main, Peter Fonagy and Mary Target, Judy will describe characteristics of attachment styles, how these came to be developed, and how they manifest throughout the life span. Attendees will gain further insight into some of the relationship difficulties their clients experience, including in the therapy relationship, and how to utilize knowledge of a client’s attachment style in treatment.

Judy Burr-Chellin, LMHC, has worked in the field of mental health for 28 years, having provided psychotherapy for individuals, couples, children and groups. She is a graduate of Seattle University’s Masters in Counseling program, the Certificate Program in Clinical Theory and Practice at UW School of Social Work, the 2 year Analytic Psychotherapy Course through the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and the UW School of Nursing Certificate Program in Infant Mental Health.

Currently Judy is the Director of Parent/Child Services at Wellspring Family Services in Seattle, where she has worked for 15 years, both as a clinician and in administration.