The Attachment Community in Canada
One of the most common questions parents and professionals
ask when they call our office is “Do you know
anyone in my area who understands Attachment Disorder?”
There is no central registry of attachment professionals
which makes it difficult to find those who understand.
In the United States, ATTACh (Assoc. for Treatment
and Training in the Attachment of Children) has provided
a networking hub for many attachment professionals.
In Canada, foster parent associations, The Society
of Special Needs Adoptive Parents (SNAP), and other
adoption associations have tried to serve this role
but most of these agencies have a provincial mandate
that dictates the parameters of their work.
We would like to see the attachment community in
Canada develop a comprehensive network, a way of uniting
attachment professionals to encourage dialogue and
practical research, and to provide a way for parents
to find the help they have been searching for.
This month Forest Cottage will begin developing
an Attachment Network page on our website. It will
list professionals with an interest in Attachment
Disorder from all provinces in Canada*. We hope this
will be the first step in finding a way to develop
a Canadian network that will benefit everyone.
If you know someone who specializes in this area
(or if you do and would like to be listed), please
email or call our office. We are looking for family
physicians and pediatricians, psychiatrists, counsellors,
family servcie agencies (private and government contracted),
adoption agencies, parent associations, etc. (Permission
must be given by each office before the listing will
be posted). This will be an ongoing process that we
hope will continue to grow.
It is so important that parents and professionals
find the hope and help they are seeking.
Let’s continue to support a healthy attachment
community!
Have a great month,
- Tanya Helton, M.Sc., Parent Coach
*Note: Call our office for referrals to ATTACh professionals
in the USA or visit the website: www.attach.org We
are also considering including a listing of International
contacts on our site.
Upcoming Workshops
Tanya will be providing one-day workshops on Attachment
Disorder in British Columbia at:
Parksville March 3, 2003
Richmond March 5, 2003
To register or for more information on the above
workshops, e-mail Emilie at The Society of Special
Needs Adoptive Parents (emilie@snap.bc.ca).A limited
number of private consultations with Tanya are available
at each location. Please call Forest Cottage if you
would like to book an appointment (1-877-261-6361).
Forest Cottage Website
Some of you may have tried to visit our website over
the past month. There have been some technical difficulties
as we moved our site to a new host and also changed
our web address. However, as of March 1st things should
be up and running and you can access us at our new
web address:
www.ForestCottageCentre.com. The previous address
will be forwarded to this.
