Dr Sarah Foster

Assistant Professor

School: Communities and Education

Sarah Foster is an academic psychologist who teaches psychological and research concepts to students on Social Work and Guidance and Counselling degree courses.

Sarah undertakes research exploring applications and implications of psychological concepts to clinical and social work practice. Of particular interest are the concepts of attachment, childhood adversity, trauma, resilience and mentalizing.

Sarah has been involved in a Wellcome Trust funded research programme, led by Professor Robbie Duschinsky at Cambridge University, which examined the meaning and implications of the infant disorganised attachment classification. Through her collaboration with Professor Duschinsky, and in her doctoral research, Sarah explored the relevance of attachment to child welfare assessment practice.

Sarah runs the North East Attachment Special Interest Group. This provides a forum for practitioners and academics to come together to consider the implications of attachment theory, research findings and assessments for practice. If you would like more information, or wish to join the group, please contact Sarah.

Campus Address

Coach Lane Campus East

Email Sarah

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Attachment theory and research: What should be on the core curriculum for child and family social workers?, Foster, S., Schofield, G., Geoghegan, L., Hood, R., Sagi-Schwartz, A., Bakkum, L., Hutchinson, D., Balk, W., Devine, R., Steele, M., Steele, H., Duncan, R., Guthrie, J., Mannes, J., Talia, A., Pickerden, J., Senior, L., Bailey, L., Stanton, C., Allen, B., Dagan, O., Opie, J., Verhage, M., Reijman, S., Sterkenburg, P., Costa-Cordella, S., Spies, R., Tharner, A., Granqvist, P., Forslund, T., Madigan, S., Schuengel, C., Hammarlund, M., Fonagy, P., Duschinsky, R. 3 Apr 2026, In: Social Work Education
Practitioner Review: Clinical insights from attachment theory and research for professionals working with young children and their families, Opie, J., Waters, E., Duschinsky, R., Hammarlund, M., Madigan, S., Foster, S., Forslund, T., Thompson, R., Steele, H., Steele, M., Roisman, G., Groh, A., Fonagy, P., Dagan, O., Talia, A., Rossen, L., Sroufe, L., Tronick, E., Fearon, R., Granqvist, P., Sagi‐Schwartz, A., Lieberman, A., Carlson, E., Zimmermann, P., Dozier, M., Wazana, A., Belsky, J., Shaver, P., Cicchetti, D., Bosmans, G., Schuengel, C., Grossmann, K., Cyr, C., Dubois‐Comtois, K., Verhage, M., Tharner, A., Oosterman, M., Allen, B., Crowell, J., Vrtička, P., Woolgar, M., Raby, K., Galbally, M., Holmes, J., Marvin, R., van IJzendoorn, M., Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. 25 Feb 2026, In: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
'In practice we don't use that much theory': Questioning claims of the dominance of attachment theory in children's safeguarding social work, Foster, S., Duschinsky, R. 1 Sep 2025, In: The British Journal of Social Work
How Clinical Psychologists Respond to Child Safeguarding Dilemmas: A Qualitative Study, O'Connor, M., Wilson, C., Coughlan, B., Duschinsky, R., Foster, S. 1 Jan 2024, In: Child Abuse Review
The perspectives of senior researchers in applied disciplines on the current state of developmental attachment research: An interview study, Mann, A., Thompson, M., Foster, S., Beckwith, H., Madigan, S., Fearon, R., Schuengel, C., Duschinsky, R. 1 Apr 2023, In: SAGE Open
Trauma and loss in the Adult Attachment Interview: Situating the unresolved state of mind classification in disciplinary and social context, Bakkum, L., Schuengel, C., Foster, S., Fearon, R., Duschinsky, R. 1 Jul 2023, In: History of the Human Sciences
Attachment goes to court: child protection and custody issues, Forslund, T., Granqvist, P., van IJzendoorn, M., Sagi-Schwartz, A., Glaser, D., Steele, M., Hammarlund, M., Schuengel, C., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Steele, H., Shaver, P., Lux, U., Simmonds, J., Jacobvitz, D., Groh, A., Bernard, K., Cyr, C., Hazen, N., Foster, S., Psouni, E., Cowan, P., Pape Cowan, C., Rifkin-Graboi, A., Wilkins, D., Pierrehumbert, B., Tarabulsy, G., Carcamo, R., Wang, Z., Liang, X., Kázmierczak, M., Pawlicka, P., Ayiro, L., Chansa, T., Sichimba, F., Mooya, H., McLean, L., Verissimo, M., Gojman-de-Millán, S., Moretti, M., Bacro, F., Peltola, M., Galbally, M., Kondo-Ikemura, K., Behrens, K., Scott, S., Rodriguez, A., Spencer, R., Posada, G., Cassibba, R., Barrantes-Vidal, N., Palacios, J., Barone, L., Madigan, S., Mason-Jones, K., Reijman, S., Juffer, F., Pasco Fearon, R., Bernier, A., Cicchetti, D., Roisman, G., Cassidy, J., Kindler, H., Zimmerman, P., Feldman, R., Spangler, G., Zeanah, C., Dozier, M., Belsky, J., Lamb, M., Duschinsky, R. Jan 2021, In: Attachment & Human Development
Mentalizing and Epistemic Trust: The work of Peter Fonagy and colleagues at the Anna Freud Centre, Duschinsky, R., Foster, S. 8 Jul 2021
Six attachment discourses: convergence, divergence and relay, Duschinsky, R., Bakkum, L., Mannes, J., Skinner, G., Turner, M., Mann, A., Coughlan, B., Reijman, S., Foster, S., Beckwith, H. 4 Jul 2021, In: Attachment and Human Development
Attachment histories and futures: reply to Vicedo’s ‘Putting attachment in its place’, Duschinsky, R., van IJzendoorn, M., Foster, S., Reijman, S., Lionetti, F. 2 Jan 2020, In: European Journal of Developmental Psychology

PGR Supervision

Hannah Gellman Does social work involvement with children not taken into care actually help them? Amixed-methods study leveraging linked administrative data Start Date: 01/10/2025