Miriam Steele

Miriam Steele serves as the Alfred J. and Monette C. Marrow Professor of Psychology at The New School for Social Research and Co-Director of the Center for Attachment Research. Her career bridges psychoanalytic theory with empirical child development research, focusing on attachment transmission across generations and clinical interventions.

Her educational background includes a PhD from University College London (1990) and training as an Anna Freud Center psychoanalyst. She is a member of the Adult Attachment Interview Trainers’ Consortium and has co-edited seminal works including the Handbook of Attachment-Based Interventions (2018).

Dr. Steele's research centers on intergenerational attachment patterns, with pioneering work establishing 'reflective functioning' as a key mechanism. Her NIH-funded studies examine attachment-based interventions for vulnerable families, while current projects explore body representation transmission, impacts of smartphone use on parent-child relationships, and embodiment in adolescence. She extends this work through interdisciplinary courses like 'Psychology for Designers' that connect psychology with Parsons School of Design.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals sustained focus on longitudinal attachment studies from pregnancy through adolescence, adoption outcomes, and pandemic impacts on family dynamics. Her work increasingly integrates cross-cultural perspectives, as seen in studies of caste systems in India and global mental health frameworks.

Notable awards include the 2017 Bowlby-Ainsworth Award from the Center for Mental Health Promotion, a $15,000 New School Research Cluster Award for 'The Body as Metaphor' (2013-2014), and a $900,000 MCH Research Program Award for 'Birth to Three' (2012-2015).

As an educator, she teaches 'Child and Adolescent Global Mental Health' and mentors PhD/MA students through the Center for Attachment Research. Her grant portfolio demonstrates strong funding success in intervention development and longitudinal studies, with recent work securing support for digital media impact research.

The Center for Attachment Research, co-directed with Howard Steele, operates as a multidisciplinary hub involving NSSR psychology students, Eugene Lang undergraduates, and international interns. Current initiatives include the Group Attachment-Based Intervention (GABI), Body Group studies examining physical disability impacts, and embodiment research in emerging adulthood.