Abusive Methods
Attachment Therapy almost always involves extremely confrontational, often hostile confrontation of a child by a therapist or parent (sometimes both). Restraint of the child by more powerful adult(s) is considered an essential part of the confrontation.
In addition to a loss of freedom of movement and autonomy, a child typically endures during therapy sessions:
Forced eye contact at close range
Shaking, bouncing or jerking the head
Screaming at him or her at close range
Knuckling the ribs
Relentless tickling
Being poked
Forced kicking for extended periods
Having an adult lie on him or her
Licking the face
Swearing at him or her (again at close range)
Having a hand held over the mouth
Looking under his or her clothes
Sitting on an arm or arms
Sitting on both legs
Pinching
Having hair pulled out
Being forced to repeat hateful things
Being told what s/he feels
Repeated accusations of lying
Hearing predictions that he or she is going to kill
Being deliberately scared and frightened
Told of events in infancy (or earlier) to evoke anger or resentment
Receiving believable threats of abandonment
Being blamed for all of a family’s problems
Elbows pressed hard into the abdomen
Disregarding all pleas for relief or to stop
Not being allowed to visit a bathroom
Belittlement and ridicule
Separating him or her from the parents
Demonization of the birth parents
Wrapping in a sheet to immobilize
Being directed to defecate or urinate in his or her clothes
A child does not receive:
genuine encouragement
empathy or understanding
recognition of personal dignity and autonomy
non-violent patterns after which to model his or her own behavior
reassurances of safety and reunion with parents
empowerment