The AAP’s unique coding and classification system designates the four standard AAI classification groups and provides information about attachment based-dimensions, including defensive processes, not assessed using other adult attachment measures.
Carol George, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Psychology and Distinguished Research Fellow at Mills College, Oakland, CA where she also co-directed the 21-year Mills College Infant Mental Health program. Dr. George is an internationally renowned attachment expert and teaches courses and trainings in attachment theory and assessment. Dr. George received her doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984. Dr. George developed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI, 1984, 1985, 1996) with Drs. Main and Kaplan. Before working with Dr. West on the AAP, Dr. George developed with Dr. Judith Solomon two other well-validated attachment-based representational assessments, including the Attachment Doll Play Assessment (for children ages 4-12 yrs.) and the Caregiving Interview (for parents of children prenatal-12 years). The development and validation of these assessments made important contributions to the development of the AAP. Dr. George has authored numerous research articles and book chapters on adult and child attachment and caregiving. Her books include The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System with Malcolm West and edited attachment volumes with Dr. Solomon the books, Attachment Disorganization (1999) and Disorganized Attachment and Caregiving (2011). She is an Assistant Editor and on the editorial board of Attachment and Human Development and Director of the International AAP Training Consortium. Dr. George does extensive international clinical consultation integrating attachment in treatment across the life span.
Melissa Lehmann PhD is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Austin, TX. Melissa Lehmann, Ph.D., received her degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Texas, Austin. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Therapeutic Assessment where her primary focus was on Therapeutic Assessments with adults, adolescents, children, couples, and families. Her dissertation research used the AAP in a study of juvenile sex offenders. Melissa is currently in private practice in Austin, Texas conducting Therapeutic Assessments with adults, adolescents, and families. She is also a founding member of the Therapeutic Assessment Institute, and part of the faculty who teaches this particular assessment model to other mental health professionals, and a member of the Society for Personality Assessment.
Caroline Lee PsyD is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Dallas, TX. Caroline received her degree in Clinical Psychology from Rosemead School of Psychology in Los Angeles, CA. She completed her internship at the Institute of Living in Hartford, CT and trained in Therapeutic Assessment during her fellowship year. Caroline uses the AAP clinically in her private practice in Dallas, TX, where she conducts Therapeutic Assessments with adolescents and adults
Julie Wargo-Aikins PhD is an Associate Professor at the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at Wayne State University. Dr. Wargo Aikins has used the AAP in a variety of research contexts for the last 15 years, examining the contributions of attachment to parent-child relationships, the association of attachment representations with psychopathology at a variety of developmental stages and with varying populations (e.g. military personnel), and stability and change in attachment representations over time. In addition, Dr. Wargo Aikins has consulted on the application of the AAP in clinical settings. She is a member of the Society for Research in Child Development and the Society for Research in Adolescence.
Malcolm West, Ph.D., the "father" of the AAP, died of cancer on September 20, 2020 at the age of 78. Mac was a retired Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary, Calgary Alberta. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Alberta in 1973. Dr. West’s numerous publications on adult attachment include Patterns of Relating: An Adult Attachment Perspective (with Adrienne Sheldon-Keller), an extension of developmental attachment theory to adults. In addition to the AAP, Dr. West developed self-report assessments of attachment in adults (Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire) and adolescents (Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire). He was on the International Advisory Board of Attachment and Human Development.
Dr. Adriana Lis, Claudia Mazzeschi, Elisa Delvecchio
Deanna Gallichan
Anna Buchheim. PH.D
“The AAP core training changed the way I listen to my clients and
understand their dilemmas of change. It also helped me understand
myself better and identify my next steps in personal growth.
Every psychologist and psychotherapist should attend this training.”
~ Stephen E. Finn, Ph.D., Founder, Center for Therapeutic
Assessment, Austin, TX
“As a fledgling clinician, I’ve had the good fortune to learn about attachment
and take the AAP training from Carol George. I’m a psychodynamic
practitioner rooted in attachment theory, and I honestly can’t imagine trying to practice without such a grounded and thoughtful understanding of attachment and its importance to our inner lives.”
~ Steffani Kizziar, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA