Note sent by Lisa Greene, Co-author of Parenting Children with Medical Conditions  to a Friend who read misinformation on the internet

A friend of mine told me about some very disconcerting information about Dr. Foster Cline and his
"attachment therapy" techniques.  I googled it to see about it, and read a very disturbing article about two
therapist who practiced this method on a 10 yr old and she died.  I'm sure you know more about this than I
do.  What is your view of all this? Just curious,

Irene

Hi Irene,

Thanks so much for checking this out with me and you ask very good questions, the same ones I myself asked 2 years ago when I started working with Dr. Cline. It is true that there is some debate around the methods Foster used in the 80's and 90's for treating the severely mentally disturbed. Even though he was never involved in any situation that harmed anyone, there is info out there about him on the net that is misleading. The re-birthing method that was used by the therapist that killed a 10 year old was not one of Dr. Cline's methods, nor did he have anything to do with that tragic situation.

Foster addresses these issues directly on his website at http://www.fostercline.com/. Click on "response to the internet." His work with children with attachment disorders was considered groundbreaking and, as such, accepted by many and disputed by some. These were children who had no other hope and no other course of treatment at the time; they are the lost children of our society. They have reactive attachment disorder which means they cannot bond with anyone. They'd just as soon look at us as kill us- and they sometimes do (kill); many are institutionalized- and should be. It is truly sad and probably impossible for us to comprehend the horror of it and how such a thing can happen; severely neglected/ abused drug babies are one such example. Psychology is a very inexact, complex science and there are many different ideas about how things should be done with the hardest of cases- which those with RAD are. Our prisons are full of them.

I have investigated this information about Dr. Cline thoroughly as well as discussed this with him at great length and feel very satisfied that he is who he appears to be- a brilliant and caring man who was willing to help the people in our society that no one else would take on. But, if you are like me, you might have to check it all out for yourself, just to know. It is a very fascinating, and scary, look into a world few of us know of and probably wouldn't want to. I am sure that Foster would be happy to answer any questions personally if what he has written doesn't satisfy your curiosity. Just let me know how I can help.

Just to ease your mind, the teachings of Love and Logic are completely unrelated to this very specialized area of Foster's professional psychiatric practice.  Love and Logic was developed by Jim Fay and Foster after studying 1000's of successful parents and figuring out the common elements. That story is on the inside cover of the L&L catalog I handed out if you are interested in reading it.

Thanks again for asking these important questions. Feel free to share this with your friend if you think it might be interesting to her, too.

My Best,

Lisa

Lisa:

I knew you would have the answer and be incredibly thorough.  Thank you for taking the time to reply with
such depth.   I feel much better after reading your response.

Bless you,
Irene