Help for Children With Attachment Issues

Getting a child with attachment issues the help he needs is the difference between a close, loving relationship with your child and a constant battle. Kids with attachment issues usually learn at a very young age that they cannot depend on adults for safety and comfort. To reverse this ingrained belief, find the right mix of understanding, parental education, help at the child's school and intensive therapy.

  1. Understanding the Issues

    • Before you and your family get help from outside sources, you have to understand the basic issues at work. Children with attachment issues, from mild to severe, see the world in a very different way than well-adjusted children. They tend to view themselves in a negative light and blame themselves for their abandonment at an early age. They often do not trust adults and act out to keep an emotional and physical distance from the most caring, patient people. If you do not take these issues into account, you will never be able to help children with attachment issues.

    Parenting Skills

    • Once you understand the issues your child faces, you must develop parenting skills that specifically focus on helping children with attachment problems. Parents of children with attachment issues have to be patient, reduce their own stress to keep them from lashing out at the children, make the child feel safe and secure and set limits that allow the child to act her emotional age. Parents must always remain calm when dealing with children with these issues and remain emotionally available to them even after an argument.

    Family Counseling

    • Counseling for children with attachment issues is a little different from traditional therapy, although it has some common ground. A counseling program for children with problems forming healthy attachments includes one-on-one therapy, family counseling and play therapy. It is important to make sure any therapist you choose to work with has experience with these types of issues in children. Your pediatrician may be able to steer you in the direction of qualified professionals.

    Education

    • Children with attachment issues often have problems in school or other situations involving both adults and other children. Teachers in public schools do not always have the skills necessary to work with these special needs children. Children with attachment disorders often see teachers as authority figures who are not deserving of their respect. Teachers may also undermine the boundaries parents set, causing the child to act out in class and at home.

      However, some schools have special education programs capable of dealing with the behavioral and emotional difficulties often displayed by children with attachment issues. Consider private schools that have staff trained to help families with the common problems caused by attachment issues.

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