Reactive Attachment Disorder Therapy

Your child may benefit from Youth Home's RAD program if they are an adolescent who:

• Has difficulty developing trusting relationships
• Has difficulty regulating their mood
• Recent attempts at treatment in outpatient therapy and/or inpatient hospitalization
• Has difficulty with cause and effect thinking
• Is demanding or clingy
• Turns everything into a battle
• Has difficulty showing empathy or remorse
• Resists gentle loving interactions
• Has difficulty with adequate behavioral controls
• Is destructive to self, others, or material things
• Is aggressive
• Has a deep sense of feeling worthless or unlovable

Brenda Scheffler, LCSW - Lead Therapist - has over 25 years of experience treating youth and caring for their families. 

As a clinical therapist and direct care staff member, she has a strong institutional knowledge of RAD, with over 70% of our patients at Youth Home having a primary RAD diagnosis. 

She also adopted and raised 2 children as her own, own of whom was diagnosed with RAD, and served as a therapeutic foster parent for 7 years. 

Brenda Scheffler, LCSW Qualifications:

• Graduated in 1987 from the University of Missouri with a MSW
• Has worked for over 25 years treating youth and families
• Adopted two youth, one who was diagnosed with RAD
• Was a therapeutic foster parent for seven years
• Attended eight years of therapy with her son who was diagnosed with RAD
• Continues to attend ongoing trainings pertaining to RAD treatment
• Is qualified to train other therapists, direct care staff, and foster parents on RAD treatment
• Is highly empathetic towards families who are going through this diagnosis with their child

Youth who have a primary diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder are often missing key experiences needed for bonding, and as such, traditional interventions do not work with poorly attached youth. 

Children with characteristics of Reactive Attachment Disorder have difficulty regulating their moods, developing cause and effect thinking, developing trusting relationships, having empathy or remorse, and demonstrating adequate behavioral controls.

Youth Home, Inc. recognizes the importance of attachment and bonding in relationships, and the profound negative impacts that can occur when early secure attachments are not developed.

We believe that healing happens in the context of safe and trusting relationships. This is the core of our Trauma Informed Care approach. Learn more about TIC here.

We use the Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) frequently in our Residential Treatment programs. It is an evidence-based treatment that helps children and their families address the negative effects of trauma, including processing their traumatic memories, overcoming problematic thoughts and behaviors, and developing effective coping and interpersonal skills.