Open Sky
Durango, CO

---

Dr. Joanna Bettmann of Open Sky
Appeared on Internet Talk Radio

Dr. Joanna Bettmann, Open Sky's Research Director, appeared on LA Talk Radio on Monday, October 26th. Dr. Bettmann discussed adoption and attachment issues in mental health, including the treatment options, research outcomes and the application of attachment theory in wilderness treatment at Open Sky.

Since our inception in 2006, Dr. Bettmann has been conducting empirical outcome research on Open Sky students. In addition to measuring overall mental health gains in our students for two years following treatment, we also utilize two measurements that specifically gauge changes in attachment among our adolescent and adult students. The Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire, a 9-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess adolescents' perceptions of relationships with parents and the Adult Attachment Scale , an 18-item self-report survey designed to provide information regarding parents' feelings about relationships, which will be useful in determining which families wilderness treatment is most effective.

In addition to serving as Open Sky's Research Director, Dr. Bettmann is an Assistant Professor at the University Of Utah School Of Social Work. She holds a PhD from Smith College and is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She researches attachment and treatment outcomes in a range of populations, and her work has been published in Clinical Social Work Journal, the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Social Work, the Journal of Therapeutic School and Programs, along with other journals. Dr. Bettmann conducted her dissertation on shifts in attachment relationships in wilderness treatment.

Dr. Bettmann has presented both nationally and internationally on attachment, adolescents and treatment outcomes. She is currently working on two major attachment research projects entitled: "A comparative study of the attachment relationships of U.S. and international undergraduates" and "The mental health and attachment of adolescent refugees".

The show was archived for listening and may be accessed on our website.