When Love is Not Enough : A Guide to Parenting Children with RAD - Reactive Attachment Disorder

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Summary: A Non-Professional Book For Parents: Use With Caution
Review: This book has so many flavors of the shady "Evergreen Approach" which has been under great scrutiny and not accepted by the professional community as a scientific and helpful approach to any child, let alone children with so-called "Attachment-Related Disorders". The Author is obviously biased and has been influenced by this Evergreen Model and it's founders and followers and, after the recent tragedy in Colorado regarding untrained people doing "Attachment Therapy", this book should NOT be used without close professional supervision. Parents with a little knowledge do not compare to trained and licensed professionals who can understand all the nuances and complexities of a troubled child. As many of the top experts in the country say "Attachment Disorder has become an overused, catch-all diagnosis without proper understanding or well-organized treatment methods". This book could potentially lead many to avoid proper assessments and treatments for related conditions.

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Summary: Read This Before Your Adoption Disrupts !!
Review: This book helped save my relationship with my six year old adopted son. Nancy talks in an easy to understand way and gives you step by step techniques that are super effective parenting tools for working with RAD children. She has been on the front lines for many years. Using her ideas, simply presented here, you too will begin to see changes immediately in the way you and your child relate to each other. The "Healing Trust" audio cassette tape is the perfect companion piece to this book. If you have a child with RAD or you suspect your child may have components of RAD purchase this book and the audio tape. Begin to work on changing just one particular behavior and see the difference. Nancy Thomas's ideas are a godsend.

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Summary: A Must Have
Review: This book is an excellent resource for anyone dealing with Reactive Attachment Disorders. As a psychologist, parent and foster parent, I found this book to be the most practical and helpful resource available. The author has an obvious wealth of experience and direct knowledge which seperates this book from the many "theroretical" books available. She has walked the walk as well as talking the talk, and her love of children is obvious as you read her book. This is a life saving book for children with emotional problems and their parents. If you have to have just one book on the subject of parenting RAD kids - this is the one. If you want a good overview of RAD and what it really means - this book is for you; and if you are struggling with how to parent a child with emotional problems and are looking for help - this book is for you. I heartily recommend this book for parent and professional alike.

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Summary: A LIFE CHANGER!!
Review: This book is not just a life saver but a life changer! We have 4 adopted children all with attachment disorder or issues of some degree. This book along with Nancy's conferences saved our family! It gave us hope for our children and more importantly it gave our children hope for a stable future. Each of our children have become loving, secure and attached children and are respectful, responsible and a whole lot of fun! We implemented nancys techniques into our home along with the childrens regular therapies and each of the therapists have agreed we never would have gotten to where we are without Nancys help! This book should be read by anyone adopting or fostering a child or anyone parenting a child with attachment issues. I would much rather read a book by a SUCCESSFUL parent than a bunch of UNsuccessful professionals. Thank-You Nancy for giving hope to the families who feel there is none!

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Summary: This is a cult
Review: This book is wonderful! Although it is about a VERY serious subject, I found myself laughing most of the way through it. Why? Because I could identify fully and felt that someone out in this great big world understands what it is like to raise children with RAD by choice. As I thought back to some of the things my now 13 yo has done, I finally found the humor in actions that in the past I had found annoying. Thank you Nancy Thomas for the work you do and sharing it as you did with this book. It is an important gift you have given.

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Summary: When Love is Not Enough
Review: This book is wonderful! Although it is about a VERY serious subject, I found myself laughing most of the way through it. Why? Because I could identify fully and felt that someone out in this great big world understands what it is like to raise children with RAD by choice. As I thought back to some of the things my now 13 yo has done, I finally found the humor in actions that in the past I had found annoying. Thank you Nancy Thomas for the work you do and sharing it as you did with this book. It is an important gift you have given.

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Summary: Really Awesome!
Review: This book saved my sister. It was like an atom bomb that went off in my family when we adopted her; now she's my best friend! My mother used this plan to bring peace back into our home. This was the most helpful book we found, and it tought us HOW to think and respond to the problems we were dealing with in a different way that WORKED!!!

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Summary: Very helpful, practical advise
Review: This was one of the books on our reading list prior to pursuing adoption of an older child (we spent about 2 years researching common disorders, therapies, adoption parenting techniques etc prior to adopting). We found it a little scary (the author describes very severe RAD cases) but found the advice very helpful in asking questions about the various children we considered and for then parenting the child we have adopted. As with any book, the authors advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt and adapted to suit your own family realities. For example, the author suggests that the mother must be at home full time and provide all the dicsipline/rewards at first. This was impossible in our situation and we felt that our son needed healthy interaction with both parents as a united team. She also places a high value on the role of sweets as comfort/nurturing rewrdas - but we are a family that does not eat sweets nor do we like to encourage the use of sweets. Overall, however, we found it worth reading and it has informed our own parenting strategies and also help us cope with some of the bad days because it makes us more aware of where these outrageous, exhausting behaviours come from. Although the author is not a professional whose advise is based on scientific research, I believe her experience and her success with severe cases should count for something. It was recommended to us by professional social workers and by our clinical psychiatrist/psychologist team. Our son has progressed from mild-moderate RAD to a more or less average 10 year old in one year.

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Summary: Confusing To Families-Sounds Too Easy
Review: We struggled through this book as there was a paucity of real professional (medical and psychiatric) material that would make this "treatment approach" believable. We appreciated the author being a parent but it was very worrisome that the advice offered was valid as it was not written or co-authored by a professional in the field of child development. Seemed more like a new fad in psychology (RAD therapy). Our problem children have so many facets and complexities that it cannot nor should not be put under RAD which seemed a catch-all for any and all bad behaviors.

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Summary: This Book Forgot A Lot!
Review: We were very hopeful when we read this title but disappointed after reading it. It had some good ideas but clearly was written by a parent and not a professional. The author left out many of the important issues that go along with attachment disorder such as other types of disabilities that our children have. This book cannot be taken as a real treatment manual due to its lack of completeness. Again some good "parenting tips" but not a real treatment manual or guide through all the real complexities of RAD and other conditions. Sounded just like the Evergreen advertisers and all their jargon and hype.