Reactive Attachment Disorder
Attachments disorders can be complex and can vary in degrees of severity. There are many cases of attachment disorder that do not fit into categories of causation or symptom presentation.
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In early development, birth to 1 year, there are several attachment processes going on in the child’s brain. Namely, the child is feeling safe and secure with their needs being met by a consistent caregiver, but there is also neuron mirroring occurring from mother to child. Infants are not born with emotions, they are born with needs. Meeting their needs is only part of the equation; neuron mirroring allows a healthy development of the frontal lobe and emotions.
Dysfunction arises if either the child’s needs are not being met or if, for any reason, the biological mother is unable to mirror healthy emotional development to the child, resulting in a possible attachment disorder. We see an immature presentation of emotional development and dysregulation of the right frontal lobe on brain mapping that corresponds to the attachment disorder and is consistent with emotional trauma.
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Attachment disorders can arise even when there is a constant caregiver and healthy neuron mirroring. The disorder can occur if there is interference in the child’s brain that does not allow positive neuron development to occur.
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Treatment and Neurofeedback
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Treatment of Reactive Attachment Disorder is also complex and usually requires parent and individual counseling with a specialized counselor. After identifying neuron dysfunction through a QEEG or brain map, Neurofeedback therapy can help improve emotional connections, settle fear responses and improve mood.
Resources:
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-reactive-attachment-disorder