For most children, having “not a care in the world” is one of the joys of childhood. But for children with attachment issues, this phrase takes on a whole new meaning. Despite your best efforts and ongoing sacrifice, you can’t help but notice your child does not seem attached to you or others who care for her. One moment your son or daughter reaches out to you for comfort and the next they resist your efforts or avoid you altogether. Your child struggles to give or receive affection and assumes a “take it or leave it” approach in his relationships.
Many adopted children and those who live in an orphanage, have parents with a mental illness, depression, or drug or alcohol abuse, or experience frequent changes in foster care or caregivers, prolonged hospitalization, extreme poverty, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, neglect, or family trauma such as death or divorce are at increased risk for developing an attachment disorder.
Is Your Child Suffering from Attachment Issues?
In infants or young children, attachment disorder manifests in abnormal crying patterns, severe colic and/or feeding difficulties, or failure to gain weight. In older children and teens, attachment disorder may manifest in the following symptoms:
- Low self-esteem
- Inability to cope with stress and adversity
- Depression or apathy
- Oppositional and defiant behaviors or manipulative behavior
- Obsession with food (refusing to eat, excessive appetite, hording or gorging on food)
- Inability to develop and maintain friendships, trust others, or accept or offer affection
- Alienation from parents or caregivers
- Lack of compassion, remorse, and empathy (which, in severe cases, can manifest in destruction of property or cruelty toward animals)
- Lack of self-control or impulsive behaviors
- Lack of understanding of consequences or inability to learn from mistakes
- Speech, language, and learning problems
- Behavioral problems at school
Although some attachment issues, such as reactive attachment disorder (RAD), generally develop by age 5, the social and emotional problems associated with the disorder may persist into adolescence and adulthood. Preteens and adolescents with attachment disorder may begin acting out through substance abuse, aggressive behavior toward peers or adults, isolation, academic underachievement, depression, and other emotional and behavioral issues.
Treatment for Attachment Disorders
Although the situation may feel hopeless, there is promise for a better future for your child and your family. Whether you’re concerned about your child’s emotional development or have already received a diagnosis on the spectrum of attachment disorders, there are programs that can help strengthen the parent-child bond and provide a better quality of life for the whole family.
Your child can learn to trust and love. By creating a stable, nurturing environment at school and helping to foster a healthy environment at home, children with attachment issues can begin to feel the satisfaction of having their emotional and physical needs consistently met, developing trust and a sense of interdependence with the people who love them. Through positive and caring connections with others, attachments can gradually regenerate, replacing fears of rejection or harm.
Programs for Youth with Attachment Disorders
Therapeutic boarding schools, residential treatment centers, and wilderness therapy programs can help children and teens with attachment disorders and their families. A number of programs offer specialized treatment tracks for children with RAD and other attachment disorders. With 24-hour supervision, structure, and intensive therapy, combined with academic assistance and a positive network of peers, teens with attachment disorder can develop meaningful connections with the world around them.
Children are wonderfully resilient and adaptable beings. Although attachment disorders can be difficult and time-consuming to treat, with help, even those who have not received the love and attention they deserved from infancy may be able to develop healthy attachments and family bonds, setting them up for successful relationships in the future. Give your child a second chance to develop the emotional ties she deserves and the feelings of safety and trust she so desperately craves. Call today for information about a program near you.
Turn-About Ranch – Utah
At Turn-About Ranch, a residential treatment program on a working ranch for teens ages 12 to 18, a clinical team of master’s and doctoral level therapists works with young people to nurture close family bonds and relationships. This co-ed program is located on a cattle ranch in Escalante, Utah, and offers an academic program, an intensive family program, and daily therapy sessions to help troubled teens discover the rewards of working in cooperation with others and developing trust and respect.
New Leaf Academy – North Carolina and Oregon
New Leaf Academies in North Carolina and Oregon are girls boarding schools that offer a safe, nurturing environment for struggling middle school age girls. This 18-24 month program teaches 10- to 14-year-old girls the value of respect and cooperation and healthy communication, and helps troubled young girls and their families transition to a better place in time for high school and college. With a particular emphasis on family involvement and giving young girls the opportunity to master earlier developmental milestones they may have missed, New Leaf is an ideal destination for young girls suffering from attachment and adoption issues.
Island View – Utah
Island View offers 24-hour structure and supervision at a residential treatment center for youth 12 to 18 years of age. Recognizing that each resident is unique, Island View customizes an individual treatment plan for each teen, designed to help residents develop communication and relationship skills, strengthen personal identity, and foster pro-social attitudes and behaviors. With a fully accredited on-campus school, an intensive therapy program with specialized groups for addressing adoption and attachment issues, an in-house medical/psychiatric service, and a strong, positive peer environment, Island View has a proven track record of building and reshaping the lives of troubled youth.
Copper Canyon Academy – Arizona
Copper Canyon Academy, located in a warm, nurturing environment in Rimrock, Arizona, is a therapeutic boarding school for girls ages 14-17. A fully accredited college-prep academic program, individual, group, and family therapy, and a complete recreational program provide teenage girls with countless opportunities for emotional, social, physical, and academic growth. With regular parent phone calls, parent seminars, and family workshops, the treatment team at Copper Canyon makes the family unit a central component of treatment and has particular expertise in addressing abandonment, adoption, and attachment issues as well as a wide range of other emotional and behavioral issues.
Youth Care Inc. – Utah
Youth Care is a small residential treatment center for youth ages 11-18 located near Salt Lake City, Utah, that provides individualized care in a home-like setting. Through intensive therapeutic services, counseling, and an accredited academic program, teens learn how to interact respectfully and courteously with others, how to develop and maintain strong, loving relationships, and how to successfully achieve their goals. Youth Care’s team of caring, experienced therapists specializes in addressing impulsive behaviors, family problems, attachment issues, isolation, and other issues facing struggling teens.
Outback – Utah
A short-term, high-impact wilderness therapy program for teens ages 13-17, Outback allows teens to continue their education while receiving intense clinical support, therapeutic treatment, and development assistance in one of the most powerful settings for real change – the wilderness. In an environment removed from negative peer groups, family conflict, and academic struggles, teens with adoption issues and attachment disorders are able to nurture healthy bonds with peers, staff, and their parents.
|
