[Dr. Art]

Dear LucyJoy,

You are correct that those center's I mentioned may refuse some kids with severe behaviors and they also have age limitations. However, they generally do better than the usual RTC with RAD kids...if the child is accepted...Of course another limitation is that the distance from home often makes frequent parental involvement difficult...and the cost factor may be another limitation.

That's why I found a local RTC to work with to help them develop a program for RAD kids that will have an attachment-based cottage and use an attachment-based model and not a behavioral model of treatment. Your suggestion is a good one...find an RTC that will work with you...but, as you clearly know from experience, that is difficult. I had to go through many RTC's in this region before I found one with enough insight and foresight to see the benefits of developing an Attachment-based program. They don't have the separate cottage set up yet (that's about 18 months into the future) but they do a great job of implementing attachment based treatment principals. The children don't work on points and levels. Priviledges and such are based on the child's relationship with the parents. Priviledges and rewards are clearly labeled as coming from Mom. The staff talk with the parents daily to discuss treatment and interventions. In addtion, the child sees me in treatment weekly and priviledges are based on how the child uses therapy...parents are in every session as is the child's primary worker.

So, to get an RTC to work for a RAD child, it is probably best if the parent can get an therapist who has experience and training in attachment-based treatment to be the parent's advocate to get all other providers on the same page using this model. Luckily, I've got enough of a track-record of success and research evidence to back me up, that it's easy for me to get this in place.

Regards,