Children and Families First, Inc.

Promoting Attachment

Attachment--the bond between a child and a parent--is crucially important to a child's mental and emotional health. The losses that a child experiences in an adoption can sometimes make it difficult for a child to attach to a new family. In this seminar we will talk about what attachment is and how you can help facilitate the attachment between you and your newly adopted child.

The goals of this seminar are to help participants learn:

• What attachment is, and why it is important.
• Why adopted children may be at risk for problems with attachment.
• How to facilitate attachment with your adopted child.
• Which behaviors may be a sign of attachment problems.
• About the continuum of severity in attachment issues.
• When to seek help.

This class is designed for prospective parents who are preparing to bring their child home, so they can have a better understanding of how to promote attachment with their child, and how to identify potential problems. The class is not intended to help parents diagnose a suspected attachment problem with a child who is already at home. If you have an older child and are wondering whether your child may be having a problem with attachment, please contact your social worker to discuss the issue and find out about other resources. Also, you can check out the Advanced Parenting for Challenging Children class, which is designed for families who are currently experiencing behavior problems.

Refer to the Class Schedule for details about when this seminar is scheduled.