Mentalization and attachment representations: a theoretical contribution to the understanding of reactive attachment disorder.

This article proposes an understanding of children with reactive attachment disorder (RAD) through psychoanalytic thought and mentalization theory. RAD is presented followed by a discussion on attachment and the need for a better understanding of this disorder. Theories from British psychoanalytic thinkers are used to describe what might be transpiring in the early relationship between mother and child. Particular attention is given to how children's internal objects are influenced by a compromised early mother-child relationship.