The Trauma & Attachment Lab, under the direction of Dr. Robert T. Muller, is oriented toward understanding the role that important relationships and beliefs about such relationships (i.e., attachments) play in the psychotherapy of children and adults who have experienced intra-familial psychological trauma.  Dr. Muller’s team is addressing the question of how to better help children who have experienced such trauma in a program entitled, The Healthy Coping Program for Abused Children.  This program is an initiative conducted in collaboration with the Toronto sexual abuse treatment programs.  It looks at ways to treat vulnerable children within their own communities by community-based clinicians, and it also examines the role that relationship factors play in treatment success, including early relationships with parents, and the relationship with the therapist. 

Dr. Muller’s team is also working collaboratively with colleagues at Women’s College Hospital and Homewood Hospital in Guelph to examine the ways in which adult relational patterns affect psychotherapy outcomes. 

Finally, in collaboration with colleagues at Ryerson University, Dr. Muller's team is examining the common practice of physical restraints in the residential care of children, and whether alternative practices may be found, particularly for more vulnerable children.

The M.A. and Ph.D.-level graduate students in the lab are:

Susan Rosenkranz, Doctoral candidate
Ritu Bedi, Doctoral candidate
Julie Margulis Cinamon, Doctoral candidate

Karina P.M. Zorzella, Doctoral candidate
Kristin Gragtmans Thornback, Doctoral candidate
Sheila Konanur, Masters student

Last updated: March 1, 2011