Customer Reviews

Don't Touch My Heart: Healing the Pain of an Unattached Child

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is a realistic view of life with an attachment disordered child, this book does NOT use scare tactics, but rather is a priceless tool in helping others to REALLY see what goes on. Our RAD son has been helped ONLY by holding therapy. Also, the therapy used in the death of the little girl in Colorado was "RE-BIRTHING THERAPY," NOT "HOLDING THERAPY." Holding therapy is not abusive, it is a nurturing way of helping a child express their rage and anger so as to get it out and resolve it. Little children don't know how to express their anger on their own. Unresolved anger eats away at them and prevents them from trusting and loving. This book is accurate in explaining the anger and the portrayal of holding therapy and its benefits. My son is on his way to love and healing thanks to holding therapy, and my friends and family now understand thanks to this wonderful book.

I am both a counselor and a mother of a now-restored RAD child. While I agree that certain therapies, carried out in a non-ethical way are extremely dangerous and would certainly never suggest that people go the route that was taken in Colorado (not at the Evergreen centre, but by two women who acted independently of the centre-for the record), I find that holding therapy, used in conjunction with more traditional theraputic methods is extremely benificial. It is not my practice to entice others to anger, especially children. However, when a child in my care, or an adult for that matter, has clearly lost control of their emotions and is beside themselves with anger/grief, a properly structured holding experience is indeed extremely healing. I have a number of clients of various ages and with varying degrees of attachment disorders who will report that the safety of being held allowed feelings to come forth that they had previously never dared experience.
What happened to that desperate child in Colorado (again, these "therapists" were not from Evergreen; nor do I work for or am in any way associated with Evergreen) was and is clearly wrong.
As with any "new" approach to treatment, discernment and wisdom is the order of the day. This book outlines the emotional trauma of a child who cannot connect, a child struggling to understand the world in which he lives, a child desperate to escape the walls that both he and others have built around him. Foster parents, birth parents, anyone interested in "what goes on in there" would do well to read this.

I started reading this book one night, and I could not put it down. This book helped me understand the world of an unattached child. I read this book in a couple hours. It is a must read if you work with children in our society. Another exceptional book if you are interested in this subject is High Risk: Children without a consience.

If you are thinking about adopting a child then you ought to read this book first. It is a story about a typical special needs child with developmental delays and how a family helps the child break through his anger and bond with his adopted family. The author removes clinical descriptions and the reader can identify their own lives through the characters in the book. If you have adopted a child and you feel more hate then love, then turn to this book for new hope.

This book provides hope and a sense of reality for families adopting children with attachment disorders. My only regret is that the book is fiction, rather than a compilation of case histories. It can be read easily and quickly.

Don't Touch My Heart was one of the first books written by a parent whose child had experienced early trauma which resulted in his developing Reactive Attachment Disorder. DTMH accurately portrays the difficulties, dilemmas, and challenges parents face when they choose to adopt or foster a child whose life is in a constant state of turmoil. Mansfield does a great job balancing the tragedy of a traumatized child with the hope and optimism that is possible when the child finally allows someone to touch his heart.

A real eye-opener into the challenges of raising children who have had a difficult start on life. This book discusses attachment disorder in a narrative that is easily accessible for both children and parents. It is a great resource for any couple considering adoption.

If you are an adoptive parent of a child with who seems intent on destroying your family and your love for the child, READ THIS BOOK. I was amazed at how accurately it described our family who adopted a child exactly like this. Not only is the description of the family accurate, but the description of the healing process is also accurate and best of all, it works.

Christopher [Hawthorn] Waldmann's name has been removed from the 2nd edition of the book, which is published by the notorious Nancy Thomas. Waldmann is currently on the Colorado Sex Offender list for:

"SEXUAL ASSAULT ON A CHILD BY ONE IN A POSITION OF TRUST"

[...]

It appears that "Attachment Therapy" attracts sadists, as well as sex offenders. Most tragically for the children, the parents almost always go along with this torture of their adopted children. Attachment Therapy is classified by some authorities as a "therapy cult." Linda Gianforte Mansfield must be a true believer in "Attachment (Holding) Therapy" to take full credit for a book that advocates methods that are professionally considered child abuse.

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It is clear to me from reading some of these reviews that people do not have a valid understanding of what holding therapy is. I know the family about whom this story is written, and their son was held gently and lovingly--the way a mother would cradle an infant--and the change in him was positive and dramatic. I know there are practioners out there who handle the process very differently, but readers need to keep in mind that this is one family's story of success, not a blanket solution for every child. Having witnessed firsthand what holding therapy did for "Jonathan," I highly recommend this book for any parent dealing with a child who suffers from reactive attachment disorder.