Ever heard of a Nanny Whisperer?

Ever heard of a Nanny Whisperer?  How about a Nanny Doctor?  Neither had I until my Mum told me about it.

We were having our usual weekly catch up....she lives in England, I in the U.S. when she asked me if I had heard of a 'Nanny Whisperer'?  I had not!  Mum told me it was a sort of mediator between Nanny and employer....if you had problems communicating with your nanny you could hire a Nanny Whisperer to talk to your nanny on your behalf.  Apparently it's been all over the T.V. in England.

Sounded ridiculous to me.....my first thought was if you're mature enough to have a child and hire a nanny then "put on your big girl/boy trousers and deal with the matter yourself....you wuss"!  I was curious to find out more about this occupation that had come to my attention.

I found a couple of  articles online that I read up on and basically my understanding of it all is this.....
There is a lady Lindsay Heller, who used to be a nanny and now has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology that calls herself the 'Nanny Doctor'.  She works in Beverly Hills, California (no surprise there) mediating between employer and nanny employee.

Dr. Heller has been hired to hire, fire and train nannies! She may also be called in to help set some household rules and philosophies for how the parents want to raise their children.

One article suggested that Dr. Heller may be of use if there is a difficult situation where the parent doesn't know how to talk to their nanny and fears if they speak to her/him about their concerns then the nanny may possibly become very angry and take it out on the children!  I have to say in my 20 years of nannying....as frustrated as I may have been with any given parent at any given time the feelings are never conveyed to the child.....never in my wildest dreams....but I guess I can understand there may be some nannies who may do that.  To me the bottom line in this situation is if you feel your nanny may harm your children due to something you say to her you have either
a)  got the wrong nanny
b)  you need to work on your own security issues

It was said in one article that Dr. Heller charges $200 an hour for employers but she also holds group sessions for nanny's which I think is an excellent idea, $12 per nanny and 4 nannies to a session is affordable for anyone.  Nannies can talk about various situations and communication problems with their employers in confidence (as long as you trust the other 3 nannies that you're holding the session with) and the Doctor may be able to offer advice. 

After reading this article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/fashion/lindsay-heller-mediates-between-parent-and-nanny.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&adxnnlx=1364127475-qsPbinBxJzZj8rOFxpgBUg
I have to say that I think a Nanny mediator may be very helpful in some situations, I view this Nanny Doctor similar to that of a marriage guidance counselor. 

Being that Dr. Heller has been a nanny and also has 2 children of her own gives her a unique approach to the situation. Sometimes it can be agencies that mediate between the nanny and employer which often can be of help but I think Dr. Heller has carved herself a niche in the crazy world of therapy that could be of use to quite a few. 
What's next?  The Nanny Detective?

If you want another perspective on this situation check out this article by Simon Dumenco
http://adage.com/article/the-media-guy/rich-rich-problems-nyt/240076/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AdvertisingAge/LatestNews+%28Advertising+Age+-+Latest+News%29

Or if you think you might need the Nanny Doctor yourself....here's a link to her website complete with all kinds of tips for nannies and employers of nannies http://www.thenannydoctor.com/

I just had to click on the header 'STORE' to see what's inside.....go look for yourself  :o)
So what's your view on a Nanny Doctor?