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Controversy trails 'attachment'
therapist who runs Chesapeake center
By Bill Sizemore
July 6, 2008
Rinda Theibert was desperate. Her
son Michael, whom she adopted at age 8, was exposed to drugs in the
womb and had spent much of his first seven years locked alone in a
room. Diagnosed with mental retardation and autism, he had spent
time in a psychiatric hospital and was prone to self-mutilation.
Theibert had thought she was
prepared; the Virginia Beach single mother's two other adopted
children were doing fine. But Michael's behavior was driving her
crazy.
Her social worker, Joan Duhaime,
was at the end of her rope, too. Maybe it was time to try something
radical, she finally suggested to Theibert.
Duhaime had attended a training
session in Norfolk led by Bryan Post, a charismatic young therapist
from Oklahoma who claimed to have a revolutionary cure for
emotionally disturbed children.
Post, who has since moved his base
of operations to Hampton Roads, subscribes to a controversial
approach known as "attachment therapy" - typically used with
severely disturbed adolescents, usually adopted or foster children.
Its central premise is that behavior problems are traceable to early
trauma - perhaps even in the womb - that prevented the children from
forming a normal attachment to their birth parents.
When Theibert first encountered
Post in 2004, when Michael was 11, she was hopeful. Post seemed to
be an expert, a nd he guaranteed a positive outcome. The therapy
cost more than $5,500, but Theibert decided it was worth a try.
"He was the only one saying there
was any hope for Michael," she said.
So on Super Bowl weekend, she, her
three children and Duhaime flew to Oklahoma City for three days of
"family intensive" sessions in a hotel room with Post.
At that and two subsequent rounds
of therapy later that year, Theibert said, she and her children were
instructed to lie on air mattresses, where they were held down and
encouraged to scream and cry about their past traumas.
Anyone who expressed discomfort
with the emotionally wrenching sessions was mocked and belittled,
she said. Duhaime was taken aback.
"It felt coercive," she said, "and
I could not see the benefit of it for my client."
There were group sessions with
other families, Theibert said, where Post recommended putting
adolescents in diapers and giving them baby bottles. He suggested to
at least one mother that she lick her child's face like a mother cat
does to a kitten.
Post also insisted that no child
needs to be on anti-psychotic medications, so Theibert took Michael
off his meds.
A year and several thousand dollars
later, Michael had gone from bad to worse. After attempting suicide
with a kitchen knife, he ended up back in the psychiatric hospital.
Theibert said her daughters have
had nightmares about the therapy for years.
Post had offered a money-back
guarantee, so Theibert asked for a refund. Post sent her $1,000 and
promised the rest in monthly installments. No more payments came.
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