Dan Hughes, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist who began to specialize
25 years ago in the treatment of abused and neglected children and
youth within the context of their foster and adoptive homes.
Discovering
that many of these children had great difficulty utilizing their
parents in their efforts to resolve their past experiences of trauma,
abandonment, and loss, Dr. Hughes turned to attachment theory and
research to better understand these children and youth and provide
more effective interventions for them and their parents. He gradually
expanded his model of treatment to apply to other families as well
and it became known as Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP).
Dr. Hughes is a consultant and trainer for treatment programs and
therapists throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. He is affiliated
with the Institute for the Arts and Psychotherapy Graduate Program
as well as Family Futures Treatment Program in London, UK. He is
the author of Facilitating Developmental Attachment (1997) and Building
the Bonds of Attachment (1998, 2nd Edition, 2006). A recent summary
of DDP can be found in his article, "An Attachment-Based Treatment
of Maltreated Children and Young People, Attachment and Human Development",
2004, 6, 263-278.
