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Nancy Thomas is a mother who adopted emotionally disturbed children. She was, and sometimes still is, a respite provider for emotionally disturbed children. She has written books about her work with children, and she has worked with thousands of parents to help their children heal from their emotional damage and be able to attach to their parents. All of this has brought criticism.
I was first introduced to Nancy Thomas when our attachment therapist gave me a copy of her book, “When Love is Not Enough” and I was mesmerized. While reading the book I felt that she had a hidden camera in my living room and was writing about the things that I deal with on a regular basis. I felt like someone finally understood my life and what we went through with our son. It was a huge relief.
Some of the criticism of Nancy’s techniques are that they are harsh and abusive. I will say some people who have read her book have taken some of the techniques and used them as punishment and not with the love that Nancy intends them to be.
Anyone who has ever met Nancy can very plainly see she loves children and wants to help them. I met her a few months after we first began attachment therapy and for me it was like meeting a movie star. I wanted to hear everything she had to say. I also met her daughter, Beth, who Nancy writes about in her book “Dandelion on my Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath”. At the time that I met them I had not read the book and had no idea that Beth was formerly an angry child with severe attachment issues.
Nancy tours the world trying to help families and offers “camps” for families to learn about attachment disorder and how to help their children. One mother who attended the camp saw progress with her child and is now doing fundraising to offer more camps. She created a video which she posted on YouTube. You may view the video here.
The video brought criticism by someone who viewed it, and its criticism I have heard before, and it’s always the same. The commenter brings up Connell Watkins and a rebirthing session during which a child died. While I do not wish that any child die for any reason, the commenter does not have all the facts. I could spend several blogs explaining the situation, but for those who don’t like Nancy Thomas nothing will dissuade them in their opinions.
Nancy can no more control how people use her information than a doctor can ensure that a patient takes prescribed medication properly. Her motives are pure, help emotionally damaged kids heal and be able to attach. It’s that simple.
To learn more, you can visit Nancy’s website.
Photo credit – Kelly L. Killian
I never will understand how Nancy gets bad mouthed for something a therapist she used did anyway(and quite frankly, the facts about Watkins are skewed anyway). If my child’s therapist had a patient die, that wouldn’t make my parenting suddenly in question.
Nancy is such a warm and sweet person and it’s sad that people don’t see the FUN she puts into parenting and the JOY that she helps children find when they realize they can succeed.