TheThe Attachment Center at Evergreen, Inc. (ACE) is an internationally recognized treatment and training program that has been operating since 1972. We are a licensed child placing agency which has successfully treated hundreds of children with attachment disorder through our unique team approach which focuses on treating children in a therapeutic foster home environment. We provide education and training for parents, placing agencies, therapists, and the general public.
Attachment Therapy—therapeutic processes designed specifically to promote, develop or enhance a reciprocal attachment relationship.
Holding Therapy—is a subspecialty of attachment therapy, involving nurturing, containment and/or focus of attention, to promote the client's exploration of feelings, confrontation of behavior, the resolution of internal conflict and enhancement of attachment relationship.
The Attachment Center at Evergreen, Inc. (ACE) uses a cradling, across the lap hold, much the same way you would hold an infant in your arms. It is used, only when necessary, to have a positive therapeutic outcome. Holding therapy is just one of many techniques used to help children at ACE. Other methods include: psychodrama, inner child work, 12 step intervention methods, behavioral management, natural and logical consequences, cognitive restructuring, and reparenting.
Many anecdotal success stories from families who have tried many other
methods to no avail. Statements such as:
"You helped me find the child hidden behind all the behavior problems,"
"My child hugged me back for the first time,"
"My child now has friends for the first time,"
"My child now feels bad when he hurts someone,"
are typical responses to treatment.
An initial outcome study indicated positive outcomes from treatment and demonstrated that further research would be extremely valuable. Research studies are currently in process. These statistics should provide the statistical information to back up what we have seen and heard. (See Current Research)
Most traditional therapy involves talk therapy, and is based upon the development of a therapeutic relationship between therapist and client. This relationship requires mutual trust, respect, reciprocity, emotional honesty and the ability to formulate thoughts and feelings into words.
Children with Attachment Disorder are unable to make use of such methods
because:
They do not trust.
They are not emotionally honest, and in fact are frequently not able to
identify their feelings or what is behind those feelings.
They do not respect anyone, including themselves.
They are not capable of reciprocal give and take relationships.
Their backgrounds of abuse, neglect, unresolved trauma or pain, loss and
abandonment frequently occurred during the first year or two of live, prior
to conscious memory of events.
They do not know why they feel and act as they do.
They are operating in the only way they know how to survive.
Such decisions to utilize Attachment Therapy to assist an individual
must be carefully made following an extensive evaluation process that includes:
Social history
Medical history/evaluation
Psychiatric evaluation
Parent's reports of behavior
Observation of family interaction
Family assessment
Early childhood history consistent with the the development
of attachment disorder
Previous response to more traditional therapeutic methods
Children with significant history of abuse and/or neglect with attachment disorder symptoms, who have not responded to other therapeutic methods, and who live in a safe environment where they do not need their symptomatology to survive are appropriate candidates for Attachment Therapy.
Therapists must have a solid background in more traditional therapeutic theories and therapies, as well as experience in individual and family therapy. Extensive and specific training detailing various htmlects of attachment/holding therapies are necessary.
Parents can utilize various "holding" techniques to facilitate positive therapeutic outcomes for children in their care. Examples: lap or cuddle time to facilitate attachment, restraint techniques by trained parents can help to safely restrain an out of control child who is a danger to self/others, etc. Parents are not therapists, although they are therapeutic. Therapy represents a planned intervention by an emotionally objective, trained and licensed therapist.
There are many reasons why some individuals have difficulty with this
method.
They do not understand these children.
They find it difficult to believe that children so young can have the severe
problems we see.
They believe that "love and security" will cure the most horrendous
of childhood backgrounds.
They believe other methods would work.
They are uncomfortable with strong, intense emotions themselves, or they
have unresolved issues of their own.
They believe that strong, intense emotions are bad for anyone.
They believe an individual's rights take precedence over family and societal
safety and well being.
They believe you should follow the child's lead in therapy. (These children
do not have a clue what the problem is. They have no other point of reference
other than what they do to survive.)
They believe that holding a child is bad. However, these children who are
so adept at keeping people at a distance and being in control at all times,
need touch to work through these problems.
They believe that confrontation is bad for a child. However, confrontation
is sometimes necessary to break through a child's defenses and reach the
hurting child within. Confrontation of faulty thinking patterns and destructive
behavior patterns is essential if change is to occur.
They have been misinformed about techniques and philosophies or they misunderstand
techniques and the rationale for their use.
This therapy is expensive because it requires highly trained, skilled and competent therapeutic staff; highly trained, skilled and competent therapeutic families who dedicate their lives to helping these extremely difficult and destructive children; specialized facilities; training for placing parents; training for therapists that will continue to help this child and this family through many years of difficulty. In addition, there are definitely more liability issues related to therapeutic services for high-risk children than there would be for a more general population.
Actually, compared to inpatient and hospital settings who treat similar children, we are very inexpensive. We are comparable, if not slightly less expensive, than most residential facilities. Compared to regular foster care or therapeutic foster care, we are more expensive but we typically treat more difficult children and provide more intensive therapeutic services.
Validate the child's feelings.
Identify, appropriately express and regulate feelings.
Resolve early trauma.
Work through grief and loss issues.
Cognitively restructure faulty thinking patterns.
Learn to see the world and his or her place in it in more realistic terms.
Help child develop positive sense of identity.
Help child to reshape his or her behavior to more appropriate and socially
acceptable levels.
Help child learn how to relate to others in a respectful, responsible,
and reciprocal way.
Help child to develop thoughtful decision making skills.
Help child to experience and accept loving, nurturing care.
Increasing child's self-control abilities.
Help parents learn effective parenting techniques.
Help parents identify and alter negative interaction patterns.
Help parents resolve their own issues of grief and loss.
In short, the goal of treatment is to help both child and family understand the problems, develop strong attachments, and modify thoughts, feelings, perceptions, behaviors and relationships so that the child can have a more satisfying and productive life, the parents can be happier and more effective in their role, and society can be safer.
We treat children with moderate to severe symptoms of Attachment Disorder. We accept children between the ages of 5 - 14 who have a supportive environment to work with. On a few occasions we have had younger children that we work with in the context of their family.