Attachment in Intellectual and Developmental Disability: A Clinician?s Guide to Practice and Research

“Skillfully introduced and edited by Helen Fletcher and her colleagues, this long-needed collection of excellent chapters on attachment and disability reveals the vast wellspring of resilience that persons with disability possess – or can be helped to achieve. Readers will discover how best to support a family member, client or friend with a ‘disability’. A definitive resource for multiple disciplines, this book is surely required reading for all those working in the health professions aimed at addressing the needs of those with severe physical, mental or emotional impairments.”

Professor Howard Steele, New School for Social Research

“This informative, comprehensive text is unique, and is destined to become an invaluable national and international resource on attachment issues in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Given the breadth and depth of this book, practitioners can use it both as a guide in practice and as a resource for research purposes. Both the editors and contributors are to be congratulated for introducing attachment theory to a wider audience, who will all, I am sure, appreciate the centrality and importance of this theoretical framework to their everyday practice.”

Professor Bob Gates, University of West London

This title in The Wiley Series in Clinical Psychology is the first to explore the role of attachment theory in understanding and helping children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). There is a growing evidence base of interventions for IDD underpinned by attachment theory, including direct intervention and the application of attachment theory to understand the interactions and relationships that occur between individuals with IDD and those who support them.

Attachment in Intellectual and Developmental Disability brings together leading clinicians and researchers to present and integrate cutting-edge models and approaches that have previously been accessible only to specialists. They discuss the role of attachment theory in clinical practice when working across the lifespan of people with IDD, the theoretical basis of attachment difficulties, and how these difficulties are presented. They also discuss practical approaches to assessment and intervention, using clear case studies to illustrate the applications of attachment theory to clinical work.

Helen K. Fletcher is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist within Southern Health NHS Trust and a Visiting Tutor for the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training. She has over 12 years of experience working with children and adults with IDD in Community, Inpatient and Specialist Teams. Helen has carried out research in the area of Attachment and ID and has presented on the topic at conferences.

Andrea Flood is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, who has worked with children and adults with intellectual disabilities and /or autism spectrum disorder since qualifying in 2004. She currently works as a Clinical Teacher on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Programme at Liverpool University. Andrea is a co-author of the Manchester Attachment Scale – 3rd party observational measure (MAST).

Dougal Julian Hare is Reader in Clinical Psychology at Cardiff University, and Research Director for the South Wales clinical psychology training programme. He has practised as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist working with people with IDD for nearly 20 years and has been an author on over 80 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in the fields of ID, neuropsychology and personal construct psychology.