The Institute for Attachment and Child Development (IACD) was set to present its first workshop at the University of Wyoming on April 17 to raise awareness for reactive attachment disorder (RAD) in children, but was canceled amid growing concerns.
Since its start in 1972, the institute treats children with reactive attachment disorder. The disorder occurs in children who were abused and neglected before the age of five and can inhibit a child from giving or receiving affection and the ability to trust others.
“I want people to walk away from this workshop with a better understanding of the effects of early child abuse and neglect and the nuances of the disorder and also to know that there is hope for kids with RAD,” Communications Director at the Institute for Attachment and Child Development Nichole Noonan said.
Located in Littleton, Colorado, the IACD is a non-profit treatment center. They work closely with children who are adopted, by having the child live with the treatment family from the facility for six to nine months. During this time, they undergo family therapy with their adoptive family to help develop relationships.
Noonan said the workshop discusses what reactive attachment disorder is, the long-term effects of abuse and neglect it has on children and the IACD’s treatment model for RAD.
Forrest Lien, executive director of IACD, was due to speak at the workshop. Lien has an extensive background as an internationally recognized trainer and speaker about the disorder and other behavioral disorders in children. He also worked with 20/20, HBO and The Today Show on documentaries about abused children.
Lien was set to discuss the intricacies of reactive attachment disorder, how it plays out in families and in therapies and why clinicians are not successful with this specific disorder.
“We specialize in treating reactive attachment disorder kids and kids with comorbid diagnosis, like bipolar, but all the kids here are adopted,” Lien said in a phone interview.
A team of professionals work with the children while they’re living in one of the professional homes. Once they begin to see an improvement, the IACD introduces family therapy with the hope that the child can be transferred back into their adoptive homes.
The IACD is unique because they treat kids with the highest level of disturbance in treatment families rather than in institutions.
“We have professional treatment families that are experts in working with this population of kids, so basically when kids are facing disruption out of their adoptive home, they come live in our treatment homes to learn how to be family kids,” Lien said of the RAD treatment.
Lien wanted this workshop to give the audience a better understanding and awareness of how this disorder affects mental health and families.
“The goal of the workshop is to develop our model there in Laramie,” Lien said. “We’re hoping there will be enough interest to develop a program in Laramie.”
Since Lien and Noonan’s interviews, the workshop was canceled over growing concerns about the IACD’s treatment method.
“This was a concern for many clinicians over here in the department of psychology about this general approach,” Assistant Professor of Psychology Joshua Clapp said. “There have been statements put out by the American Psychiatric Association expressing concerns about these types of interventions.”
Ivinson Memorial Hospital’s education coordinator, Ivan Olsen, who brought the institute to Laramie, said the hospital will be releasing a statement on their decision to cancel the workshop.
