Faculty

Profile

*On leave Spring 2021*

I am a Professor of Psychology, Director of Clinical Psychology at The New School for Social Research, and Co-Director of the Center For Attachment Research. My work aims to bridge the world of psychoanalytic thinking and clinical practice with contemporary research in child development. My research began with the study “Intergenerational Patterns of Attachment,” which embodied one of the first prospective longitudinal studies incorporating the Adult Attachment Interviews and Strange Situation protocols. This work was important in initiating the concept of “reflective functioning” and providing empirical data to demonstrate the importance of parental states of mind in the social and emotional development of their children. I am also interested in the field of adoption and foster care with a view to understanding the impact of attachment representations from both the adopters and the children's point of view. Currently, my main area of research is an NIH funded study on the efficacy of an innovative attachment-based intervention with high-risk families, a collaborative venture with colleagues at the Rose Kennedy Center, Albert Einstein School of Medicine. I am also conducting research on the intergenerational transmission of body and attachment, and am investigating family relationships in the context of Assisted Reproductive Technology.

Degrees Held

PhD 1990, University College, London

Recent Publications

Bekar, O., Steele, M., Shahmoon-Shanok, R., & Steele, H. (2018) Mothers’ Mental State Talk and Preschool Children’s Social-Behavioral Functioning: A Multidimensional Account. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 17:2, 119-133.

Archer, M., Steele, M., Lan, J., Jin, X., Herreros, F., & Steele, H. (2015). Attachment between infants and mothers in China. International Journal Of Behavioral Development, 39(6), 485-491.

Steele, M., Steele, H., Bate, J., Knafo, H., Kinsey, M. Bonuck, K., Meisner, P. & Murphy, A. (2014) Looking From the Outside In: The Use of Video in Attachment-Based Interventions. (.pdf) Attachment & Human Development, 16, 402–415.

Murphy, A., Steele, M., Dube, S.R., Bonuck, K., Meissner, P., Bate, J., Goldman, H., Steele, H. (2013) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Questionnaire and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI): Implications for Parent Child Relationships. (.pdf) Child Abuse and Neglect, 38, 224-233.

Beebe, B. & Steele, M. (2013) How does microanalysis of mother-infant communication inform maternal sensitivity and infant attachment? (.pdf) Attachment & Human Development, 15, 583-602.

Research Interests

• Intergenerational Patterns of Attachment
• Attachment based Interventions
• Prevention of Maltreatment
• Adoption and Foster Care
• Intergenerational Transmission of Body Representations
• Family relationships and Assisted Reproductive Technology

Awards And Honors

2013-2014

$15,000 Co-Investigator with Sabine Seymour: “The Body as Metaphor” New School Research Cluster Award

2012-2015

$900,000 Co-Investigator: "Birth to Three: A Pragmatic Clinical Trial for Child Maltreatment Prevention Extramural MCH Research" (MCHR) Program Award R40MC23629-01-01

Portfolio

Center for Attachment Research website