Carolyn Attneave

Vocation

American psychologist best known for founding network therapy and for working with cross-cultural topics in her research. In 1962, Attneave relocated to Oklahoma to work for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, where she worked to provide mental health services to seven Native American tribes in the area. This work would go on to influence her later efforts to provide Native American-specific mental health treatment. In 1968, she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to work at the Child Guidance Clinic. It was here that she began to focus on network therapy, an alternative to hospitalization in which the clients focus on their personal networks that may include their families and neighborhood communities. In an attempt to gain a better cultural understanding of the cultural contexts of her clients, she relocated to a primarily black area of Philadelphia, where she was able to understand different therapy networks. In 1973, her book Family Networks, written with Ross Speck, was published. Later, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts and founded the Network of Indian Psychologists, which went on to become the Society of Indian Psychologists. Beginning in 1973, she began her teaching career at Harvard University's School of Public Health, and later joined the faculty of the University of Washington, where she spent the last 15 years of her career. She continued in her work in network therapy and community services until her death on 22 June 1992. Link to Wikipedia biography