About The Nanny Doctor
 In the spirit of Attachment Theory, Dr. Lindsay Heller seeks to promote positive relationships between families and their nannies that create strong, healthy, secure emotional bonds between children and their caregivers that will nurture future meaningful relationships.
Dr. Lindsay Heller has been working with families and their nannies for over 10 years. In addition to being a licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Heller was a well-respected nanny for over 10 years in both the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
In addition to her work as The Nanny Doctor, Dr. Heller has a private practice in Beverly Hills where she sees children, adolescents, and adults for individual and family psychotherapy. For more information on these services and to view Dr. Heller’s complete curriculum vitae go to www.drlindsayheller.com
In both private practice and as The Nanny Doctor, Dr. Heller works from an Attachment Theory perspective. This theory focuses on the important emotional bonds between children and significant attachment figures in their lives such as their caregivers.
As a past nanny, she has experience working in a variety of different types of households with a variety of different types of families. As a result of her professional training and nanny experience, The Nanny Doctor recognizes that every family is different and has its own unique needs. As a nanny, The Nanny Doctor worked with families of all different backgrounds. She worked in small households as well as fully-staffed estates. She worked as both a live-in nanny and as a live-out nanny. She worked for families as a weekday nanny as well as the sole weekend nanny. She has traveled with families domestically and abroad. She has nannied for families with infants, toddlers, elementary age, middle school age, and teens. The Nanny Doctor knows what it is like to be a nanny .
Nannies themselves come from all different family backgrounds and cultures, and have their own ideas and expectations about what their relationship with the family they work for will be like. What your nanny brings to your family culturally is so important to know and understand. The way that your nanny was raised will be directly related to how they plan to care for your children. Nannies and families need to communicate with each other, however at times, due to the power differential nannies may shy away from valid thoughts or concerns they have about the child. The Nanny Doctor offers an objective, highly trained, professional perspective.
Over the years, Dr. Heller saw a need for families and nannies to have a way to communicate their needs to each other in the best interest of the child. Unfortunately all too often nannies are fired as a result of a conflict between the parent and the nanny prior to any attempt at a conflict resolution. The result? The child wakes up the next day and a significant attachment figure in their lives has disappeared. For children, the nanny was a person who maintained their physical and emotional safety on a daily basis. When it becomes clear that that person can just disappear, children may be more cautious to develop a bond in the future, which may contribute to future failures. A loss of or a change in caregivers can be a significant stressor on a child. Furthermore, there is evidence that our early attachment styles especially the first three years of our lives remain steady over time and tend to be replicated in our relationships throughout childhood and then in our friendships and romantic relationships as adults.
When children have inconsistency in caregivers, they are put at risk for developing several problems one of which may be Reactive Attachment Disorder. If this becomes a pervasive pattern, these children could develop further psychological disorders including, but not limited to Borderline Personality Disorder as adults, which may also include feelings of insecurity, depression, and anxiety.
As The Nanny Doctor, Dr. Heller has successfully brought together her years of clinical training and knowledge of Attachment Theory with her years of experience as a nanny. This combination has allowed her to successfully help many families develop strong, meaningful, secure emotional bonds that lead to healthy relationships throughout their lives.
The Nanny Doctor is also an Advisory Board Member on www.care.com
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