What is RAD?
Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is a childhood disorder that is typically found in children who have experienced early childhood trauma that has resulted in a lack of emotional connections (bonding). Attachment is the natural bond that develops between a parent and a child in the first few years of a child’s life. Children have a need to attach to other human beings in order to develop psychologically and emotionally. Attachment occurs when a child’s physical and emotional needs are met by a caregiver. These needs are met through feeding, soothing, and attending to the child’s safety needs.
Children who are neglected or abused fail to bond with caregivers because they lose the ability to trust. They learn through experience that the world is not a safe place. “Trust hasn’t worked for them. Without trust, there cannot be love, and without love they are emotionally underdeveloped. Instead of love, rage has developed within them.” (www.radkid.org)