Choosing an Attachment Therapist

Attachment clinics and therapists who treat nothing but attachment disorders are common place today, and the growth in these services has many people concerned about misdiagnosis, extreme forms of treatment, and oversimplification of attachment theory.

Some attachment experts fear that not all of the attachment therapists cropping up around the country have the broad, extensive training necessary to see subtle differences between diagnoses.

When parents seek help for their children, experts suggest:

• Get a thorough assessment by a professional knowledgeable about attachment disorders but also well grounded in neurologic function, family and individual therapy, grief and loss issues, and pyschodynamics.
   
• Choose a therapist who recognizes that there can be degrees of attachment and who believes that treatment is possible.
   
• Choose a therapist who uses a variety of treatments, beginning with the least intrusive.
   
• Keep in mind that the goal of attachment therapy is to help a child form attachments to his parents as well as help the parents form attachments with the child.
   
• Only choose a therapist who is willing to work with the family as a whole, not just the child.