Children Who Have Disorders of Attachment - Essay Example

Attachment disorder results from accumulated negative experiences during the early stages of the relationship between a child and the caregiver. Children with attachment disorders suffer hardships in relating with others and cannot deal, effectively, with their emotions. There exists a wide variety of attachment issues depending on how disturbed a child is emotionally. These include conduct, attention deficit hypersensitivity, and bipolar disorders among others.

Circumstances surrounding the causes of attachment issues, at times, are unavoidable. However, the child is too young to comprehend what may be happening and the reasons behind it. To the child, it may seem like nobody cares, and thusly lose trust in others. Symptoms of attachment disorder include avoiding physical affection, anger, lack of remorse, enjoying being in control, and withdrawal.

The provision of relevant education on how to deal with attachment-disordered children should be considered. This primarily targets parents with attachment-disordered children as an essential step towards reversing its effects. New parenting skills are impacted to help in healing the maltreatment experienced during the child’s early life, assisting them secure attachments with their current caregivers. In addition, this creates a foundation of new trust, which is necessary for successful relationships in all aspects of life. Research has indicated that attachment parenting requires one to understand the concepts of regulation dysregulation, which refers to the physical and emotional state of the child (ATTACh, 2008). While in a regulated environment, children can learn at their best since they have a flexible experience and can manage a range of emotions without being overwhelmed. In addition, the child becomes more receptive, calm and can process thoughts and feelings.

It is also critical that parents maintain a position that reflects the notion of being wiser and more mature than the child. The parent must assist the child in making sense of an experience and explaining the child’s reactions while reassuring them, which should be achieved while maintaining empathy. Parenting strategies while dealing with afflicted children should employ logic and reasonable consequences, and not impose fear on the child.

Use of physical containment as a parenting strategy needs to be assessed to determine its appropriateness. Some children may accept physical containment while others may become aggressive regardless of how clear the intentions were. In such cases, unresolved traumatic triggers need to be addressed for physical containment to work as a parenting strategy.

In conclusion, the relationship between the child and the primary caregiver must be repaired for the restoration of broken trust. While researchers seek innovative interventions to resolve problems associated with attachment disorder, factors that contribute to the development and progression of the disorder such as substance abuse by parents should be eliminated. The parent must assure the child of security since it creates a sense of trust and allows the child to be more comfortable and responsive to therapy.