Many programs are set up for only the child, but Radical Attachment Camp understands that the family unit is affected by the difficult child. The attachment techniques taught at the camp help the whole family come together as a unit, in addition to providing the parents with the unique tools needed to help these children down their healing journey.

The camp has the privilege of having Nancy Thomas at its helm. Ms. Thomas has over thirty years of working with some of America’s most violent children. She boasts over 85% success rate with this population, numbers unheard of in the industry. This is the only camp in Canada that is privileged to have Ms. Thomas’ savvy techniques in how to deal with difficult behavior on a daily basis, in addition to helping these precious children fully heal.

Radical Attachment Camp also has a separate program for the siblings of the difficult child. This program addresses the struggles and frustrations of living with a difficult child. The siblings work through experiential exercises with the horses of Long Faces and Happy Hearts Equestrian Centre. This week long program is set up as a fun cowboy/cowgirl camp, but has a therapeutic purpose. The work follows the empirically proven program and is the only empirically (quantitative research) proven program running in all of Canada and one of a handful in the United States. The quantitative research that has proven the usefulness of horses (Russell-Martin, 2006; Schultz, Remick-Barlow, & Robbins, 2007; Trotter, Chandler, Goodwin-Bond, & Casey, 2008) is so limited and recent that many programs have not had a chance to update their curriculum. At Radical Attachment Camp, we have closely monitored the research and bring you the latest and best proven methods.

The difficult children also benefit from the presence of the horses by taking part in the Equine Facilitated/Experiential Bonding program with their parents. This program is unique to the difficulties that are particular to displaced children and their families. EF/EB uses the theories of Dr. Bruce Perry (among others) by targeting different parts of the brain in order to help the brain heal itself. Ms. Sherwood is also a PhD candidate that continues to do research into the best practices to heal families with difficult children.

We are located north of Regina, Saskatchewan at Alrington Beach Camp. If you flew you would want to come into Regina.

For those of you still looking for funding to come to camp, I have found representatives for post adoptive services. Please go to http://www.nacac.org/about/volunteers.html in order to look up the representative in your area. Please let me know if the person was any help. I would like to create my own list of those that actually help families out.

American families can find funding through the information in this handout: Funding the Services you Need for your Challenging Child

Canadians, please call me for specific foundations and methods to find funding.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions or concerns.