The American Psychiatric Association has recently (June 2002) issued a Position Statement warning against the use of AT in the treatment of RAD, pointing out that all of forms of coercive restraint are contraindicated. (There have been many other position statements taken, for which see our Opponents page.)
Considering what the APA is doing to medicate the kids of this country, I am I am just as suspicious of the APA. They represent a group of professionals who get paid by the hour. Cures are not in their interest.
Charities and volunteer groups, on the other hand, have every interest in a cure, because they exist to help as many people as possible with less incentive to drag out the treatment.
No single therapeutic technique works for all patients or conditions. However, the non-standard therapies for attachment disorder have gotten a lot of attention, due to a couple of deaths resulting from their use.
If this is the sort of therapy this child is receiving, and I suspect it is, after doing a little research on such practices in Santa Clara County, then there is reason for concern by the CPS.
Such "alternative" therapies often involve long periods under "restraints." The rebirthing nonsense is also part of the alternate therapy nonsense used to treat this disorder, as is partial smothering and other unpleasantries.
Since you are restrained from, or are unwilling to discuss any further details regarding this situation, there's little else to discuss, given the facts at hand.
I do know that there is a very active alternative therapy movement in your area. I mentioned one of the therapists above. If this person, or her organization is involved, then the interest of the CPS and unwillingness to allow access to the child by these therapists is not surprising.
Sorry, but there's just too much secrecy here. It raises red flags. It took me less than 30 minutes to track down all this information and link it directly to the area in which you and this family live.
I could go further, but will not.
I'm sorry, but that is simply a gratuitous slam on the APA, that because they get paid by the hour, they're not interested in cures.
My mom is bipolar, we had her involuntarily committed 7 years ago, and her doctors worked hard to get her out of the "loony bin" and back home (where she is now and doing quite well thank you very much).
I guess our perspectives are simply different.
Cures are not in the interest of "attachment disorder therapists" either. These people charge lots of money for their "therapy", though I wouldn't be surprised if many of them also sponsor no-charge initial "screenings" and (most importantly to getting their potential paying clients on board) free "support" groups, where the not-yet-paying parents can mingle with parents who ARE paying and who are enthusiastically recommending the therapy. After sinking thousands or tens of thousands of dollars into something like this, many people have a hard time facing up to the fact that it was all scam, and try to push away their doubt by becoming ever stronger and louder advocates.
Do you KNOW that this family is relying only on "charities and volunteer groups", and not paying therapists? Do you KNOW what therapist or therapists they're using, and have you googled the names of those therapists or otherwise objectively researched them (or are the parents declining to share the names?)? Are you SURE that even though your direct contact with the parents reassures you that they only have their child's best interests in mind, that they haven't been taken in by someone who doesn't?
I really think you should dig up all the facts before jumping on board to support and defend these people. If not, you risk finding out after the fact, that you were energetically pushing for something which would have allowed horrible child abuse to continue.
Parents of troubled children are often desperate, and there's a big industry of scammers who are well-organized to take advantage of their desperation. One of the biggest scams is the Scientologists, who (while never identifying themselves as Scientologists until a family has already been sucked in very deep), push their "no drug" therapies for ADD/ADHD symptoms. The Scientologists have been greatly aided in their scam by the widespread and legitimate concern that ADD/ADHD diagnoses are often hasty and incorrect, and that drugs are being prescribed for thousands of young children, with only the flimsiest of evidence that they are needed or even beneficial. Nearly all the parents who get sucked into Scientology this way, start out with nothing but genuine desire to help their children, and a desire to avoid having their children swept up in an epidemic of incorrect ADD/ADHD diagnoses. But that doesn't make the Scientology-affiliated alternative groups they turn to, anything but evil and dangerous.