Featured Speaker
Brent Finger, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Montana State University Billings
Brent Finger received his doctorate from the University of Chicago Committee on Human Development and completed an NIAAA funded post-doctorate at the Research Institute on Addictions at SUNY Buffalo. His research activities focus on parent-child attachment, Developmental Psychopathology, substance abuse, and representations of interpersonal relationships in high-risk samples.
Brent’s work has been published nationally and internationally. His research adds to a body of literature, extending John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth’s seminal work in Attachment Theory. His workshop is a compilation of Attachment Theory history (Secure, Avoidant, and Anxious), leading up to current clinical practice. Dr. Finger’s work regarding the fourth attachment style, Disorganized Attachment will be integrated throughout the presentation. A partial list of Dr. Finger’s publications and research presentations is listed below:
Melnick, S. M., Finger, B., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (2008).The Pervasively Unintegrated / Hostile-Helpless Coding System for the Adult Attachment Interview: Implications for the Intergenerational Transmission of Disorganized Attachment. In H. Steele & M. Steele (Eds.) The adult attachment interview in clinical context. (pp. 399-423). New York: Guilford Press.
Finger, B., Kachadourian L. K., Molnar D. S., Eiden R. D., Edwards E. P., & Leonard, K. E. (2010). Alcoholism, Associated Risk Factors, and Harsh Parenting among Fathers: Examining the Role of Marital Aggression. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 541-548.
Finger, B., Cunningham, A. B., Bernstein, V. J., & Hans, S. L. (2018). Familial environmental contributors to early emerging behavior problems in children of addicted mothers. Infant and Child Development, 27(1).
Isosävi, Sanna, Wahlström, Jarl; Flykt, Marjo; Heiskanen, Lotta Finger, Brent; et al. (2019). Dysregulated motherhood: Exploring the risk features in a mother’s caregiving representations. Journal of Infant, Child & Adolescent Psychotherapy, 18, 29-57.
Terry, M., Finger, B,, Lyons-Ruth, K., Sadler, S. L., & Slade, A. (2020). Hostile/helpless maternal representations in pregnancy and later child removal: A pilot study. Infant Mental Health Journal, August 20.
Cunningham, A. B., & Finger, B. (2004, October). Behavior Problems in Young Children with Substance Abusing Mothers. Poster presented at the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Washington, DC.
Finger, B. (2005, September). The Effects of Violence on Mother-Child Attachment. Breakout session presented at the South Suburban Family Shelter conference on “Early Identification and Screening of Young Children Exposed to Violence”. Alsip, IL.
Finger, B., & Hans, S. L. (2006, March). Exploring the Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment Disorganization. Poster presented at the 15th biennial Conference of the Society for Research in Human Development, Fort Worth, TX.