Reactive Attachment Disorder, or RAD, is usually associated with children who have been adopted. RAD can occur even if a child was adopted in the first few days of life. Although RAD is generally linked to adoption, not all adopted children develop RAD.
In addition to the many misconceptions regarding Attachment Disorder, it’s often not properly diagnosed by healthcare professionals due to a lack of experience and training about the disorder. RAD is frequently misdiagnosed as ADD, ADHD, or ODD causing a delay in proper treatment and more difficulty and stress for families.
Reactive Attachment Disorder can arise when the normal process of forming attachments to primary care figures in early childhood is disturbed. Symptoms usually begin to manifest when the child is between 0 and 2 years of age and, as the child matures, become evident in their behaviors.
Dr. Daniel Schore of UCLA has shown that a great number of attachment issues are self-regulation issues. In other words, many people with attachment disorders have difficulty managing emotions and calming themselves. Neurofeedback Training can target the areas of the brain that regulate those abilities.
Increasing numbers of therapists who specialize in Attachment Disorder are using neurofeedback and report that neurofeedback has been very beneficial in helping clients progress in the treatment process. Because of its effectiveness, neurofeedback has become a core technique for many RAD therapists.