Talk Explores Power of Early Attachment

Andrea Gurney, associate professor of psychology at Westmont, examines early relational experiences and their importance to human development in a talk Thursday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara Street. The Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Wired for Love: The Importance of Early Attachment,” is free and open to the public. No tickets are required; the limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.

“Do the bonds we form in childhood make a difference in later intimate relationship such as our marriages?” Gurney asks. Beginning with animal studies conducted in the 1950s, she will present classic and revolutionary research in the field of attachment and child development and discuss the development of children’s Internal Working Model.

Gurney, who began teaching at Westmont in 2005, is a practicing clinical psychologist. She will discuss the four different attachment styles and the ways they affect relationships in childhood and adulthood. She will also consider the impact of parenting on the emotional world of children.

She earned her doctorate at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., and her master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in couples and family counseling and a pre-doctoral internship in individual therapy at Harvard Medical School.

She is a member of both the American Psychological Association and the Santa Barbara Psychological Association.

The lecture series, Westmont Downtown: Conversations about Things that Matter, is sponsored by the Westmont Foundation.