Wilder’s Center for Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder was created to develop and provide training for staff, foster parents, caregivers and professionals who work with children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), a serious psychological condition associated with children who have experienced persistent abuse, abandonment, neglect, or separation from parents at a very young age.

Children with RAD experience a host of serious psychological, behavioral, cognitive, and developmental problems and can pose a danger to themselves and others.

Wilder's approach is offered within highly structured foster homes or residential treatment settings and includes the following steps:

• Establish a safe environment so children can internalize a sense of security
• Awaken the senses that have been shut off to avoid pain and trauma so children can more accurately experience and interpret their environment
• Build self-identity and relationships so children can increase their capacity to accept nurturance and limits
• Work with emotions so children can increase their capacity to cope with life stressors
• Explore unresolved trauma issues through opportunities to regress and practice early development tasks so trust can develop between children and parents