I was diagnosed with RAD as a child when my adoptive mother got me at 4. I received therapy and my mom took many steps to help me feel secure and socialize me. Every year I got better and I’m lucky I had her, I came from a home full of drug addicts who would do really horrible things.

As a foster child myself, one home I lived in around 1990 my foster brother was subject repeatedly to RAT at the local clinic. Many times I would sit in the waiting room and the ensuing chaos spilled into the hallways with kids kicking and screaming and crying for hours on end, literally after walking in behaving just fine. And he never really acted badly at home or school either, it was as if the foster mother, who had adopted him, was looking for reasons to give him psychotherapy when in reality it was her bad behavior and false perceptions that were the cause of all of it. The more that I think of it, that "Child of Rage" documentary likely did a lot more damage to foster children in general, by applying a label that these children are a sort of damaged merchandise and should be avoided when looking to adopt. A perception that is actually quite widespread to this day.

I was horrified after watching the Beth Thomas documentary, She seemed to fall into the category of becoming a future serial killer. But it appears she has made a success in her adult life..Thanks Dr Grande.

“RAD should be the focus of treatment, not the focus of moral judgement .” Your calm, educated understanding of these disorders is why we come here. Thanks, Doc.

That's absolutely terrifying! One doctor told us that our now 40 year old son had RSD. After looking into treatment, we thought it was barbaric and walked away from that diagnosis. We then discovered that he has ASD. He's doing well now.

Unbelievable damage done to humans of all ages by severe childhood trauma.

My youngest daughter is adopted from China. She is now an adult and has autism and ADD, but early on we had one doctor who insisted on RAD and various “therapies” he prescribed/ offered. International adoption he immediately went with RAD. My best advise is not to take the word of one doctor, especially when you aren’t comfortable with what they are saying and it’s obvious they don’t know your child. She is doing well and never displayed any aggressive or dangerous symptoms.

1. When does Dr. Grande sleep? 2. How much coffee does he drink? 3. Does he need therapy from all the horrible movies and KZfaq videos he’s watched for making these?

Very happy to hear Beth did so well in life! Dr. Grande’s stories so rarely end with a positive outcome.

I had no idea she had such an unexpectedly good outcome. I hope she's living a happy life. She worked hard for it and deserves it.

People don’t understand how many people in corrections have horrific childhoods like Beth.

I worked at a therapeutic boarding school for teens and a number of the students there had been diagnosed with RAD. All of them were adopted and all of them had trauma from a very young age. Even now, there are at least two people in my life who were diagnosed with the disorder, and they were also adopted and experienced trauma. These kids need security and safety. Not to be broken-they’re already traumatized enough. Be a safe person for them, help them understand healthy attachments. I’m sad that these “therapist” insist these children are monsters. I had one student who had both a RAD and pre-BPD diagnosis. She needed stability and a safety net. Not for her spirit and will to be broken. I pray every day that the therapy she received helped her establish healthy relationship and helped guide her to a healthy and successful life.

Children with trauma who dont act like a timid mouse are deemed evil by society.

Hi Dr. Grande, I'm currently finalizing my dissertation to graduate my Ph.D. program and I just wanted to thank you for videos covering criminal psychology. I must also thank you for the videos you made earlier about how to use research software. They helped me write my methodology section! Hope you have a pleasant rest of your week. Best regards

I’ve been a day treatment teacher with traumatized kids resulting in severe Behaviour and emotional issues for many years. The standard protocol is to be unfailing kind, consistent and supportive. Most of these children dealt with horrific abuse and trauma. Our tx was successful the majority of the time. It was frustrating when kids would make progress and it would all be undone once they were returned to their parents. Emotional dysregulation caused by horrible situations is the underlying issue, not evil!

My good friend adopted a special needs child from Ukraine years ago. She had RAD, but she had the kind where the child will go to anyone because she was used to having so many different caregivers at the orphanage. She'd break away from my friend while in the mall & run up to hug literally anyone she saw. Since she didn't have the chance to form a bond with her birth mother or any ONE human, she sought comfort from literally any person near her. When my friend and her husband would have guests over, their daughter would go sit on the laps of anyone and everyone. Clearly, this is not ideal. Thankfully, through lots of work with my friend and her hubby, as well as years of therapy, she's a reasonably careful and discerning teen now. As she does have other comorbidities, she's still developmentally delayed (reads at about a grade 4 level), but she now knows to be cautious of strangers, which is a huge relief.

Beth was dealt a hand to fold, yet she went all in and won the jackpot that is a stable life

So outrageous to know that this kind of nonsense therapy was permitted for such a long time; Hope this is not so any more

Breaking the resistance sounds like breaking the spirit of the child. That's a heartbreaking concept.

I saw the documentary years ago, and it scared me to death. One segment that really stuck with me was the mother saying that she heard Beth’s little brother screaming in the basement, and ran downstairs, only to find Beth repeatedly hitting Jonathan’s head onto the concrete floor. She was able to stop Beth before Jonathan before he was too badly harmed. I often wonder what kind of life Jonathan has had as an adult. 😢

The Beth Thomas case is such a horrific case. But her outcome in life is truly remarkable. Thanks Dr.Grande.

My daughter was adopted from China and she was diagnosed with RAD. From what I have learned, she had a very mild case, but she was still difficult. Thankfully we worked with a kind, patient therapist who actually trained us how to change our parenting style. Parenting her was completely different from our two older, biological children. She is now 17 and doing great. She has a ton of friends and she is loving and affectionate with her family.

You hit the nail on the head, I have a brother who has R.A.D. He was adopted from Kazakhstan at age seven and when through 2 other adoptions before he came to our family. He was dangerous for several years from 7 to 12ish he was well behaved at school but predatory at home however through therapy, patience, prayers a year stent in a mental hospital and he began to develop into a normal young teenager. Today he is a paratrooper and is married.

A good phase to think about when dealing with children with Attachment Disorders, “I know you don’t believe me when I say this but, you are safe, I am safe, and I am always here if you need me”.

I'd never heard of the diagnosis "Reactive Attachment Disorder" before watching this, but I remember the discussions revolving around the movie "The Bad Seed." At the time it came out (1956; a remake was made in 2018), the "nature vs. nurture" concept provoked a lot of heated discussion. Very interesting topic, Dr. Grande; thank you so much for giving us such thought-provoking content.

My adopted sister was diagnosed w RAD/ ODD. It is heartbreaking to watch them go through life. Just walk away from people like they mean nothing to them.

This video was eye opening. It’s unbelievable that these attachment therapists you described essentially get away with blame if a child for their problems and abusing them to correct it. Thanks for covering this Dr. Grande.

Although her case is horrible, does anybody know what happened to her brother? There’s almost no information about him.

I can't wait to hear this. I watched that documentary and found it very disturbing.

I don't see the comment I had posted so forgive me if it's buried. I raised a severe RAD child. Many years of good counseling gave him the tools to live a normal life. I wouldn't go through it again though. It was horrific. These children cannot put into words the pain they feel because they are small children.

It sounds like the social workers and the adoptive parents had hoped that Beth was young enough not to be greatly impacted, and when they realized how bad the trauma was they were completely overwhelmed. In that situation a desperate parent will latch onto anyone who seems like they have answers and could help. I've seen the same thing with "treatments" for autism peddled to parents who are struggling to cope.

I love all of your videos, but this was uniquely insightful. My mother was adopted and was teased at school growing up by kids they thought she couldn’t be normal. She was the kindest person I have ever known. Thank you for this detailed and fascinating analysis.

These "attachment therapists" should be prosecuted for child abuse, as well as for enabling child abuse by parents.

Good for Beth overcoming her difficult start. I have nothing but respect and admiration for people who can work their way through their own mental wilderness and find new clarity and purpose on the other side. What a triumph.

I remember when this happened and also the 10 year old who died while going through a “rebirthing”. To be fair, there are children who act out when adopted. I knew two couples who adopted children that had terrible rage. One was a little boy, a toddler, who was adopted from a Romanian orphanage. Those orphanages in Romania were horrible. The second couple adopted a young boy out of the foster care system. He ultimately had to be placed into residential, therapeutic care after the parents woke one night and found him standing by their bed with a butcher knife. He also made threats about harming their other children. They did stand by the boy and considered him their son. I don’t know what ultimately happened with either child. The whole RAD controversy reminds me of the “ repressed memories” therapy that was being pushed around the same time.

This was one of the first "case studies" I did in college. Then a few years later, I worked with a little boy that reminded me very much of this case. There have been many times I wished you could react and "not diagnose anyone" to some of the people I've worked with. Thank you, Dr. Grande!

That interview of Beth and the doctor are astonishing, she really came a long way since her childhood. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the upload, Dr. Grande! I need a break from this three-hour documentary on Chris Chan. We appreciate your hard work and most of us appreciate your deadpan morbid humor!

this girl said some of the creepiest stuff ever caught on video

This reminds me of a documentary called about a boy. The grandmother insisted that he was psychotic and his mother wasn’t fit to take care of him. Turns out there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. She either set up a situation where he would act out or make things up. Even his school teachers were certain that he was completely normal.

My younger brother was diagnosed by a doctor with this disorder when we were in foster care. You’re absolutely right about it being co-diagnosed with ODD and ADHD as he was diagnosed with both. He has been through so many different forms of therapy and medications but nothing has worked enough to allow him to safely live on his own.

Dr Grande mentioned a ten year old girl was murdered during a “rebirthing” therapy. Her name was Candace Newmaker. That would make for a great separate video.

Doctor I might have had this disorder. My family of origin is so dysfunctional when I went to girl scout camp the first time I wrote to my parents like all the other little girls did. I told my parents I wanted to live there.😂 And when my parents came to get me when camp was over, I ran off and told them I didn't want to live with them any more in front of everybody. All the other little girls were running to their parents. I was only in third or fourth grade. My parents were so embarrassed.

My younger child was a "difficult " child born during this same time. She was a challenge to raise and frequently defiant but I never thought she was evil or lacked a conscience. I'm also glad I ignored most social media of the time. Too busy working and raising children.

I was a child when I saw the video of Beth’s parents holding her down when the Dr was trying to ‘treat’ her. Beth was screaming and honestly, I felt that was only harming her worse. I’m so happy to hear she has grown up to be a nurse. ❤

I am greatful to God she was able to heal

That documentary has always stuck with me. To hear a child say the most sinister and horrific things without any emotion lends credence to how much environment really shapes us as adults.

My adoptive brother (7 years older than me) was adopted at 4 years of age from an orphanage in Erlangen, Germany when my parents and older sister (also 7 years older than me. Their birthdays were 10 days apart) were living in Naples, Italy. My parents moved back to the United States in 1969 and I was then adopted as a newborn. I am pretty sure that my brother has attachment disorder. He never bonded with my parents or sister. He was obsessive with me. Frighteningly so. He sexually abused both my sister and me. He abused (killed) animals. Set our local grade school on fire. Broke into the neighbors house and stole their gun (if I recall correctly the neighbor was a police officer) and proceeded to hold my mom and I at gun point until the police arrived. He was 12 years old at the time. He was sent to juvenile detention for that stunt and I didn’t see him again until he was a junior in high school. I had flashbacks of that incident and the SA for years until I got treatment. I am just sharing a portion of what he did. He ended up harassing me for a short time when I was in my early twenties. Showing up at my home unannounced when I hadn’t spoken with him in years. He smashed the windows out on my car and the flood lights on my townhome. The police were called again. Ultimately he was arrested for the sexual assault of an underage person at the hospital he worked at as a medical assistant. I have no idea how he was able to pass a background check, or drug test for that matter. When I got married at age 30, we didn’t do the usual wedding announcement in the newspaper. My entire family had cut him off years prior but I didn’t want to risk him knowing my married name. When we had a daughter we became even more cautious. Not paranoid. We just made sure we had a security system. 😉 I haven’t seen him in years. My dad keeps tabs on him through a private investigator friend but I haven’t asked him for any information. I don’t care as long as he isn’t near my daughter or me. I do believe that whatever happened in that orphanage in Germany contributed to him being the way he is. Whether it was lack of physical contact as a newborn / toddler or if he was abused himself. He was never able to make friends or have relationships with anyone. He was always abusive to everyone he came across. Emotionally or physically. Would he have had a fighting chance if my parents had adopted him as a newborn? I’ve always wondered that. I will never know. I just know that I had to let my anger and resentment towards him go before it took me down.

Thank you for covering this case. I recall watching part of the documentary and being so disturbed at how Beth was being "treated" that i couldn't watch the entire thing. Im happy to know she grew up and throved despite her "treatment" and "parents".

Kind of relieving to know she's now a happy looking grown up woman probably working in a hospital or something i'm not sure

I remember this case, an incredible outcome, so happy for her. Good analysis, thanks Dr. G. for the update. ❤

It’s scary to think how much damage these attachment “therapists” are doing. Children should be protected. Each state should pass a law to prevent unlicensed and untrained people from doing this type of work. Thanks for another interesting and important video, Dr. Grande! More people need to be aware of this.

Great job Doc!! I will be 45 next month, and I remember seeing this film. I thought it was called "Beth", but I'm mistaken. It scared the daylights out of me at the time, but as an adult who has been working in healthcare for over 20 years, you hit the nail on the head in every aspect of your amazing analysis. Now, the fact that there are "attachment therapists" scares the daylights out of me!

There's always a "psycho-therapy" grift going on. Hard to pull people away from all of them. This one is really abusive and especially sad because it was toward children.

Thank you for covering this. When I was younger I went to a pastoral counselor with an MFT. She was giving me all of these projection tests and told me after one session that I had experienced se* abuse as a child and had blocked it. Now I know how unethical this was. She also prayed during my sessions even though I was not comfortable with that. These people are wreckless.

I remember watching the movie that the Beth Thomas “documentary” was based off of. It’s been awhile but it was disturbing enough to make a lasting impression. I’m so glad that Beth is doing well now. Thanks for the information. It’s important that individuals who work with children be held to high standards and be fully informed before enacting techniques

Dr. Grande, Thank you so much for doing this story. It is terrifying that something like this exists, and people should know about it! Thank you for sticking up for such vulnerable children who have no voice!!

I’ve only ever seen the documentary: Beth has only ever been a tragic and frightening child. Of course she must have grown up, but we rarely hear about that. I’m glad she’s found success. EDIT: Please please please please please never take your child to a clinician that claims they need to be ‘broken’ like a fucking horse

This made my heart hurt. I followed a You Tube channel where a Korean couple with two small sons, adopted a young boy from a Korean orphanage, where he was cared for by an older couple, who had fostered him. He never bonded with the mother who had expected him to behave perfectly, not accepting how hard he was grieving, and that all would be well in less than a year. I had to quit watching because it upset me so much to see her lack of affection for this child, and how she spent a huge amount of time trying to get a following of people to agree with her harshness and putting a time limit on his grief. She even counted the amount of diapers he used in a day, and was very irritated by it.😊

We had to watch her documentary as part of my training when I was a CPS investigator it was shocking I had never heard of reactive attachment disorder at that time

I'd be really interesting if you could analyse the pychology of the murderer Ben Field. His case has got a lot of attention in the UK recently as the BBC have made an acclaimed drama about it called "The Sixth Commandment". Ben Field was a university student who manipulated and murdered an elderly professor who had taught him at the university, by convincing him they were in a relarionship. He drugged him many times over several years and convinced him and others that he was seriously ill. He then tried to do the same with an elderly woman on the same street. All of this while telling several others he was in a relationship with them, with many other online hook ups. In both victim's cases, they were deeply religious and Ben Field used his position in the church to manipulate them. He wanted their money and convinced them to change their wills

I was 16 when I saw that on HBO about Beth and it was the first time I actually thought a child should be put away from the rest of the world and I had oftentimes wondered if she had ever managed to kill her baby brother or her parents. I felt so sorry for the baby boy because they told of what horrible shape he was in when they rescued him. I’m going to say that it was a very one sided documentary because I thought that Beth was a lost cause destined to spread misery on everyone she would ever know. I’m glad to hear she is better now and none of those things were true. She had been a victim also but they really limited that view and seriously upped the horrible side.

I'm so glad to see this documentary re-examined I totally remember how extreme it felt when I watched it.

Dr G I remember the child that was killed by the 'rebirthing' treatment. Absolutely horrific :(

Beth Thomas is amazing for what shes been through and overcome. Not only is she absolutely gorgeous, shes smart, self aware, and willing to share what she feels and what she went through. She is a success story of proper rehabilitation, after trauma.

Dan Hughes has written a book called Building the Bonds of Attachment that has some great insights in this area

I can honestly say at the young age of 5 or 6 I was that manipulative child. And I do not blame my parents at all because there was really nothing there. I had a normal childhood at that point. There is something to children being born with strong personality traits that are unexplainable. Maybe even disorders that just show them selves early.

I remember this, glad to hear Beth has done good with her life, and doing well.

I remember seeing clips from this years ago on KZfaq. Thank you for your followup in this instance. It's honestly priceless. I'm surprised that I haven't seen anyone else talk about her success.

Wow those therapist conducting treatment sounds very cruel and torture

News companies have been stirring the pot for sensationalism with no proof for many years, a lot longer than we've been calling them out for. Thank you for covering this. I had no idea the depths of "therapeutic methods" attached to this disorder, and the vilification of children dealing with it all.

I’m glad you did an analysis on this. I never knew the clinical side of this story (the backstory), and it’s interesting to hear more beyond what was in the documentary. I’m so glad that Beth is living her best life. She definitely did not deserve to be the unhappy and hurt little girl in the documentary. At least one great thing came out of it and that is Beth doing so well today.

Where was Beth during the alleged "accidental" plane crash of the doctor? 🤔

This case study was so personal due to being a child welfare worker. My investigations, home studies, placing children in foster care, terminating and consummation adoptions. As well as reaching out to the community for special services the families and children needed. I remember watching Walter Cronkite and when he spoke of Nam he brought it right into your living room. You speak the same way. AWESOME.

If only Beth Thomas had had a reasonable doctor such as yourself and one without a personal agenda. The feelings I had after seeing this documentary have never left me. It is a relief to know Beth has done so well for herself.

I'm so glad you mentioned fake therapists because I've see at least three in my past. I couldn't articulate why I felt that way but now I know my instincts were right. They were self serving. I met a forensic therapist who understood what I couldn't and she was so kind that I was able to question her without feeling ridiculous. Thank you Dr. Grande for pointing all this out.

kind of scary what folks are doing out there. I work w/attachment and kiddos as a therapist. My protocol is simple..to build trust w/the parent by the parent actually spending one on one time with the child. Speak positively (positive therapy), treat the action not the behavior...if that makes sense. A lot of one on one time, not dictated by the parent, but collaboratively deciding what they would like to do together. I also have adopted children, the sooner the better. yes, it can be more complicated, but this is the gest...none of the other stuff that would only traumatize the child. geeze.

I'm relieved to hear Beth Thomas is doing good, her story was truly heartbreaking when I first heard of it

I remember seeing this very scary video years ago. Great to hear that this girl grew into a healthy, accomplished woman.

I didn't know we were going to talk about child abuse that's poorly disguised as therapy😭😭😭😭. I was never diagnosed with reactive attachment but I was definitely raised the way you described!

She changed her life completely around and is now a Registered Nurse!! Beth you are a true inspiration to everyone!!! 🎉🎉🎉

Thank you for covering this Dr Grande. I never forgot this horrific story. Hearing your take on this was excellent. It can't have been easy. ❤ From Australia 🐨

Brilliant and compassionate video for children with Reactive Attachment Disorder, thank you. I've also been fascinated and horrified by the Dissociative Identity Disorder trend online, I'd appreciate more videos on this.

Hello dr. Grade🥰 I'm super excited about this one! I'm always really excited when you upload. But with this case in particular has always been one that is extremely Riveting! Thank you as always & much love❣️

Something about this video was incredible thank you so much for the insight.

I don't really have anything to add to this conversation except to say this is one of the best comment sections I've seen in recent memory, and that I really appreciate people's thoughtfulness and insight in helping me understand this subject👍❤️

Another great video. Your assessments and opinions about reactive detachment disorder and the therapist that propone them were compelling.

Wow ! Thank you for your insightful analysis! Just like in "People of the lie" often it's the adults who are not meeting the child's needs appropriately. ❤

I really appreciate your analysis on this case. Touched on a lot of points in a clear and concise way that aren’t readily talked about on a consistent basis to form these very accurate (if I must say so myself at least) conclusions on attachment and the too often overlooked narcissistic manipulation of therapists (& Parents!!). Hopefully more people who suffer with these issues (including myself) can start to gain recognition and lose the blame that those ignorant and self absorbed so easily place upon them.. muchas gracias Grande❤

Thank you for the update on Beth's life. I always wondered what happened to her. So glad she was able to turn things around for herself and live successfully. It is great news!

This is brilliantly conveyed! I really enjoyed this and think the discussion on this has been needed for a very long time thanks.

Good afternoon Dr. Grande, excellent analysis. What a case Beth was. Glad to see she is a successful nurse. As always I learn something new from your videos. Have a great Friday.

Listening to this poor little girl describe her actions and emotions was chilling. And I think placing adoptive kids in a punitive environment where the focus is on obedience and squashing their free will is ill-advised. We had a case like this in WA state where these religious people mistreated an adopted daughter trying to get her to 'obey' and she ended up freezing to death outside.

My half-sister has RAD, and it makes me so sad that it is so misunderstood. She is not evil, she has emotions and she feels remorse. I hope that this area of mental health gets more research and becomes less demonized

This was a masterclass on reactive attachment disorder. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, Dr. Grande.❤

This a such a comprehensive and well researched analysis !

Fascinating subject, I say a video about this young lady and it seemed strange. The story was incomplete. Thank you for All the great information Dr. Grande!

Lovely to hear that Beth is doing so well now!

I really really enjoyed this video. I started to watch you back in the days when you were mostly talking about psychology and different diagnoses and as much as I enjoy your new stuff I like the psych topic much more, so this video was a treat. Thank you Dr Grande ❤❤

Wow! I remember the story of this child and am so delighted that she survived and is thriving.❤ and I SO very much appreciate your analysis of the pseudo science quacks that you have exposed. I am an Elder. Much has changed in my lifetime. It is heartwarming and validating to have your explanations that mostly children are “messed up” due to what they have experienced……. Very sad and very true. Thank you again ✌️❤