As an adopted father of two twin RAD (reactive attachment disorder) children from the Virginia system, and a father of five overall, I have had to overcome many obstacles in order to keep my household running smoothly and effectively. Like many parents who experience the high’s and low’s of adoption through the foster care system, we have been riding the “RAD roller-coaster” of life since our adoption was finalized in 2008.

My adopted children, skipped the terrible two’s and three’s as most typically developing children go through and replaced that with stealing, lying, dysfunction, and in the case of my adopted daughter; violence and rage. As loving parents, we had exhausted our avenues of family therapy, group counseling, online suggestions and county and statewide help.

Through the many small group meetings we attend, we were united with, and still have a professional relationship with Debbie Harris. She introduced us to a variety of new approaches to heal our children and develop lifelong bonds. Always thinking “outside-the-box” and looking for solutions to very difficult problems, Debbie began the process of “holding therapy” and “rage reduction”, that our children needed so desperately. During the same time period, she began to heal the damage done to my natural born children and look for solutions to age-old questions they may have about the future with their adopted siblings.

After two years in the program we have seen significant changes in both of our RAD children. They both play sports and excel without dysfunction, they have occasional “play-dates” with friends, and one of them will even attend a typically developing summer camp for eight weeks. Much of this success is due to “Miss Debbie” and her fabulous program.
Donald Beeby