Research and Teaching Interests

My research and teaching interests focused first on the parent-child attachment relationship. My doctoral research looked at how first-time mothers described their bonding process with their first child. I wanted to understand both the mothers' struggles and their joys, and the different pathways attachment can take.

For the past twelve years, I have focused on childhood trauma, specifically what parents can do to promote or frustrate their child’s healing from trauma. I have presented this research at numerous professional conferences here in New York and abroad.

Over a period of 19 years, I have been teaching undergraduate courses on trauma as a tenured professor at SUNY Empire State College, and master’s seminars at Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. I have developed core curriculum at both institutions on childhood trauma, adult trauma, attachment across the lifespan, and counseling theories.

I also have a strong research interest in the training of new therapists and social workers, and was honored to get the Fulbright Scholar award in 2019, to help build the social work curriculum in Vietnam. I supervise training analysts at NIP, my home institute in New York City.