RAD Minestrone

I'm throwing in a little of everything - Minestrone. I finished my Psychopathology class last night. Now I am so tired I can hardly function. I had no idea. I thought I'd be all excited and jumping around and all I want to do is sleep. Guess I was stressing a little more than I thought! I think the final exam went well. In fact, the first 60 questions were multiple choice and they were an absolute breeze. The essay, short answer and case studies were more difficult by far but I think I did ok.

Bear continued his different attitude throughout yesterday morning when I saw him last. He was some what crabby this morning but I have to admit I was too so I can't just blame him. I do believe what happened with him was the beginning of realization. I saw this when Taz started healing. It took about a month and it was a look of understanding I began seeing on his face. An "Ah Ha" moment. It took several times of this over a period of a month between when Taz "got it", and he really "got it". That is the look I have been watching for in Bear the last couple of years. The look I never saw until Sunday. It is excellerating and motivating to me. He is going to be snuggled, hugged, read too and wooed like no other!

The Seminar: I really want to talk about that. I felt it was so very good. It really expressed the heart of attachment parenting to me. I will just talk about Old School - New School today. The old school view of attachment treatment was that the child with RAD is full of rage and a need to control his parents. The new school is the child with RAD has been traumatized from earlier attachment figures. His current reactions to attachment figures are trauma-reactions over which has heas no control. This seminar was led and put together by Debra Wesselman, MS, LIMHP and Dan Bruckner, MSW, LIMHP. They together have started the Attachment and Trauma Center of Nebraska. Dan was our attachment therapist before the center was formed last June. They both have a great understanding of children, RAD, and seem to really "get" what it is like to parent a child with RAD. I will share tomorrow about trauma and its effects on the child.