When Foster and I were talking about the impact he has had upon parents—both as a psychiatrist and as the co-founder of the Love and Logic Institute—I told him about my introduction to his books and his philosophies.


I have a friend in Indiana who is a female walking, talking Foster Cline. She had adopted a sibling group of three, and they had really given her a run for her money. She was also a social worker! Somewhere along the way, she discovered Love and Logic, and by the time I met her in the early 90’s, she had it down pat. I can still hear her saying in a sing-song voice, “Bummer for you!”


We moved to Kansas in 1994, and I immediately informed the school district we practiced Love and Logic parenting. They had no idea what I was talking about. Things went downhill fast, and eventually I ended up being referred to Larry Lehman, a therapist who once worked with Foster and who had been a founding member of ATTACh. It was pure luck that I found Larry.


Larry handed me Foster’s book Hope for High Risk and Rage-filled Children and suggested I see if it reminded me of Tommy? Well, it was not only Tommy but Amy as well, and also a complete description of the Philippino teen we had just adopted (who later disrupted.) I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Not only did the book have immediate credibility because I was so sold on Love and Logic parenting, but his description of RAD convinced me he was sitting at my kitchen table when he wrote the book!


That was my introduction to RAD, and the rest, as they say, is history. I consumed everything I could find on the subject. Those years with my family imploding were awful, but when I finally started coming up for air, I decided it was time to do something to prevent other families from having to endure this type of experience all alone.