Triggering Content: child abuse, psychological and emotional torture

Hi everyone,

I’m a survivor of a coercive version of “Attachment Therapy”—a treatment model that caused lasting harm to my development, safety, and mental health.

At just 6 years old, I was improperly diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) by an attachment therapist trained in the ideology of Dr. Foster Cline and Nancy Thomas. Their definition of RAD ignored the DSM and instead viewed trauma-affected children as manipulative, dangerous, and lacking empathy. I didn’t meet diagnostic criteria—but I was labeled and treated as if I were a threat, not a child in pain.

This diagnosis was used to justify what I now understand to be emotional, physical, and psychological abuse. Under the direction of my therapist:
• I was isolated from all peers and denied outside relationships
• I had to ask permission to speak, eat, drink water, or use the bathroom
• I was made to do hard labor (like yard work or hauling rocks) as punishment
• I was forced to sit still in “strong sitting” for long periods, sometimes hours, without moving
• I was shamed when I cried or expressed emotions and told I was “making things up” when I disclosed trauma
• I was told to write sentences hundreds of times like “I will let [adult] be the boss of me” to break my will
• I was forbidden to play, draw freely, or speak without permission—even at home
• I was told I had no conscience and would become a serial killer if I didn’t comply
• I was threatened constantly with being sent away to a year-long respite care facility, where I later did experience further abuse

These are just a few of the examples of coercive "treatment".

Therapy extended beyond the office into every part of my life. My school was involved. My home became an extension of treatment. I was under 24/7 surveillance by my parents, told that my actions—down to facial expressions—were proof of manipulation. I was treated like I was broken, dangerous, and incapable of attachment, when really I was scared and traumatized.

This was not mental health care. This was psychological and emotional torture.

The ideology behind my treatment—pushed by figures like Cline and Thomas—has been widely discredited by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), and others. Yet it still lives on in private therapy practices, parenting advice, and institutional programs today.

I’m here because I’m reclaiming my voice. I want to connect with others who understand the long-term effects of coercive therapy, childhood misdiagnosis, and systemic abuse disguised as “treatment.” If you’ve been through anything similar—being silenced, punished for surviving, or controlled in the name of healing—you are not alone.

Thank you for reading and holding space for this. I’d welcome connection, shared stories, or support.