At the Trauma & Attachment Lab, under the direction of Dr. Robert T. Muller, we investigate the treatment of interpersonal trauma in children and adults, using an attachment theory framework. We examine trauma therapy outcome and process, and we’re interested in the psychotherapy relationship as well as other factors that improve treatment response. We look at what trauma therapies work, and why. Dr. Muller’s team is addressing these issues in three current research projects.

The first is a collaborative study with the Traumatology Institute in Toronto (Dr. Anna Baranowsky), looking at adults with PTSD, and how trauma therapy helps. The second is a collaborative study with the Family Psychology Center in Toronto (Dr. Mirisse Foroughe), looking at emotion-focused interventions with families, many of whom have trauma histories. The third is a collaborative project in Toronto, co-directed by psychologist Leah Keating, looking at LGBTQ+ individuals and their experiences of having gone through trauma therapy.

Some of our previous trauma research projects have included the Healthy Coping Program for Abused Children, an initiative conducted in collaboration with the Toronto sexual abuse treatment programs, looking at ways to treat vulnerable children within their own communities by community-based clinicians, and the Women Recovering from Abuse Program, at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. Also, the Program for Traumatic Stress Recovery at Homewood Hospital in Guelph. We continue to publish results from those initiatives.

The graduate students in the lab are:

Sara Rependa, doctoral student and psychology resident
Kris Cordeiro, doctoral student
Laura Goldstein, doctoral student
Cassy Wyers, M.A. student

Last updated: February 26, 2020