Support, Coaching & Community for Families

Parenting a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is one of the most isolating experiences a caregiver can face. Most people in your everyday life — even professionals — may not truly understand what you’re going through. These support groups, coaching programs, and online communities connect you with people who “get it” and can offer guidance, encouragement, and practical help.

Coaching, retreats, and more

• Ce Eshelman, LMFT
  Adoptive mom and Attachment and Trauma specialist offers comprehensive support services to help you thrive after adoption. Ce is the author of Drowning With My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents.
• RADTalk with Tracey Retreats
  Relax, connect, find peace and healing with Tracey, Chris and others walking the journey of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) This retreat is all about fun, laughter, rest, and relaxation.
• Post Institute
  Offers personal coaching based on the stress model and love-based parenting. They provide education and support specific to your family’s challenges. 
• RAD Advocates
  Offers support membership programs at various levels including coaching and custom one-on-one advocacy. They focus on helping parents identify a roadmap forward and advocating for the plan parents choose. 
• Tracey Poffenroth
  Offers one-on-one strategic planning sessions tailored for your goals and circumstances. She also offers on going supportive coaching to help you find different approaches to your challenges and to be a champion for you. 
• Attach Families
  Offers a 24/7 crisis line for parents and caregivers, (252) 285-6550. Volunteers man this line, and they may not always have the answers. But they’re always there to listen and they “get it.” 
• CapeAble Weighted Products
  Created by a fellow RAD mom, Marna, who literally redesigned the science behind weighted therapy with new patented technology. These weighted blankets are like nothing else on the market. They don’t use pesky duvet covers and are machine washable!
• Meditation Minis
  Get immediate help with anxiety, stress, sleep, and more. What makes them perfect for parents of kids with RAD is that they’re only 5 to 10 minutes long, which is about all the time we’ve got. They’re also free. Chel told me the real power in these mediations is when you listen to them multiple times and when you aren’t triggered – this is how you let them soak in and become a part of you.
• Learn to Cope 
  Offers resources and peer support caregivers of a child with substance abuse issues.

Didn’t find what you are looking for? Check out: Parenting Strategies: Adoptive & Foster Families

Virtual Support Groups

• ATTACh Trauma and Attachment Parent Support Group
  A confidential, Zoom facilitated support group for parents, caregivers and families of children and young people living with attachment disorders, childhood traumas, developmental disorders and mental health concerns. For more information contact Mary McGowan at info@attach.org.
• Post Institute
  Offers small groups based on the expressed needs of the participating parents and professionals. They also offer small group book studies of From Fear to Love by founder, Bryan Post.
• RAD Couples: Online Support Group
  Meets virtually once a week to work through the challenging areas RAD couples face. Offered by Tracey Poffenroth of RAD Talk with her husband Chris.
• RAD Moms: Online Support Group
  Meets virtually once a week giving you a safe space to share your feelings and receive support. Offered by Tracey Poffenroth of RAD Talk with her husband Chris.
• Therapeutic Parenting
  A group established by therapeutic parent, expert and author, Sarah Naish.
• Parent Groups curated by Families Rising

Didn’t find what you are looking for? Check out: Memoirs from RAD & Trauma-Parenting Families

Private Facebook Support Groups

While there are tens of thousands of caregivers going through the same struggles raising RAD kids, it can be almost impossible to connect. Private, online Facebook groups are an amazing way to get support and find recommendations for local service providers. 

There are many such groups, but the three below are the ones I like to recommend. While the facilitators take security and privacy very seriously (be sure to answer the membership questions), always keep in mind that only conversations with your attorney (and sometimes your therapist) are legally privileged).

• Attach Families Private RAD Support Group
  (Attach Families)
• Christian RAD Support Group
  A faith-based group
• The Underground World of RAD
  Associated with Mother Ranch

Didn’t find what you are looking for? Check out: Bloggers, Podcasts & Social Voices That “Get It”

Self-Care

Navigating the challenges and stress of caring for a child with RAD can make feelings of depression, anxiety, agitation, and frustration start to feel normal. Parents of kids with RAD put self-care on the back burner or neglect it altogether while in perpetual crisis mode. To be effective, parents need to take care of themselves. The child can’t begin to heal while their family is falling apart. That’s a lose-lose for everyone. Self-care is not as out of reach as it may seem.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases — but I only share products I’ve tried or truly believe will help you.

• A-Z of Survival Strategies for Therapeutic Parents: From Chaos to Cake
  (Sarah Naish)
  This book is all about how to cope and survive with 80 strategies from an experienced adoptive parent.
• 365 Days of Wisdom & Encouragement for moms of kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder
  (Keri Williams)
  Daily sentiments filled with advice, encouragement, and validation. There’s also a journal version.
• Snark, Sanity, & Survival: Self-Care for Struggling Special Needs Parents
  (Keri Williams)
  This workbook meets you where you are. No judgment. Just practical tools and real-talk support.
• Finding Hope Meditation
  A meditation created especially for moms of kids with RAD by renowned hypnotherapist Chel Hamilton. Listen several times and let the words and affirmations soak in and become a part of you.
• How to raise your resilience
  A blog post about how to identify changes you can make in your life to enable you to better handle what gets thrown your way. It’s super practical and actionable.
• How Raising a Traumatized Child can be Traumatizing
  An infographic from RAD Advocates, explains how parents (and siblings) of RAD kids can get PTSD and what you can do about it.
• Reject Blame and Shame visualization
  Learn to protect your own mental health when dealing with service providers, family, and friends who don’t support you. 
• Self-Care List for Moms of Kids with RAD
  Ideas that are actually in reach for exhausted stressed-out caregivers.
• Tap Into Your Potential
  Cindy is a fellow RAD parent and EFT / TFT Tapping Practitioner. She’s helping caregivers use tapping to manage their trauma and PTSD. She offers free consultations so give it a try. You may know her from the Support For RAD Parents Facebook page she runs.

Didn’t find what you are looking for? Check out: Conferences & Retreats for Foster, Adoptive, & Kinship Caregivers