Prof. Miriam Steele

Professor in Psychology

Miriam Steele is a Professor in Psychology and co-director of the Centre for Attachment Research at the New School for Social Research.

She bridges the world of psychoanalytic thinking and clinical practice with contemporary research in child development. She trained as a child analyst at the Anna Freud Centre London and received her Ph.D. from University College London. Her research began with the study of “Intergenerational Patterns of Attachment” which embodied one of the first prospective longitudinal studies incorporating the Adult Attachment Interview 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 with a longitudinal focus on their development into adulthood. Her current projects include studies exploring attachment and body representations across a range of individuals including mother-child dyads and individuals with physical disabilities, studies of children in foster care and adoption and child and adolescent global mental health.