About Una McCluskey
Una McCluskey, PhD, is a retired Senior Research Fellow at the University of York and a retired clinical member of the UKCP, currently working with and training professionals in the caring professions in the clinical application of attachment theory.
She is best known for her research into affect attunement in the field of adult psychotherapy. Through this research she discovered that the ‘offer to treat’ can arouse the dynamics of attachment in both the careseeker and the caregiver. By extensive analysis of video material of interaction, she discovered that the assuagement of careseeking required a particular response from the caregiver. This dynamic she called ‘Goal-Corrected Empathic Attunement’ (GCEA). This has proved to be a significant development in guiding attachment-based practitioners in their work.
GCEA provides a theory of interaction for adult psychotherapy which is based on extensive investigation of early childhood development and her own and others’ research. In line with the original work of Dr John Bowlby on goal-corrected systems, and subsequently the work of Dr Dorothy Heard and Dr Brian Lake, she has developed a model of practice titled ‘Exploratory Goal-Corrected Psychotherapy (EGCP)’.
She is known
nationally and internationally for her contribution to theory and
practice in relation to the Dynamics of Attachment in Adult Life and
has developed a clinical application of attachment theory for use with
individuals, couples, families, groups and organisations known as the
McCluskey Model.
