How Has Beth Thomas Now Changed Since The Documentary?

It’s really nice to see Beth Thomas, the child of rage from ‘Child of Rage’ occasionally pop up in news articles and look like she’s been growing up to support kids with trauma in some sort of professional capacity. The transition from child of rage to adult outside of media spotlight is really comforting to me.

It’s worth noting, though, that the documentary ‘Child of Rage’ created a rather dramatic first impression of the young girl. Ever since then many, many therapists and many, many clinicians have evolved towards more gentle, evidence-based practices. Reading the actual film and then going to learn more about attachment and trauma-informed care is a great way to not get stuck with the pretty sensationalized images that were created for the purposes of the documentary.

I have been thinking about Beth Thomas from a clinical-curious perspective and the way she has progressed as a person in the years following the documentary ‘Child of Rage’. She was diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder and went through intensive therapy to attempt to overcome her problems. It has been reported that Beth is working with children who are traumatised in various ways and this is also the direction that many other trauma survivors are taking- to work in some capacity with children who are similarly affected and to help them in their recovery.

What is most relevant to how Beth’s life has changed after the film is that her case has influenced how people perceive children with attachment issues and their subsequent treatment. Her extreme behavior towards others for so many years has cemented the stereotype of children with Reactive Attachment Disorder, or severe attachment issues, in the minds of many. Today however most practitioners utilize evidence-based treatments like Trauma-Focused CBT, or other approaches such as structured parenting and support, as well as methods of attachment-focused interventions. Most importantly, these forms of treatment are grounded in ethics. There are, however, very dark and disturbing methods of treatment of children with attachment issues that were presented to the public in films such as Child of Rage, and these methods are often questioned as to whether they were EVER appropriate and are today considered to be extremely coercive and even at times traumatic. It is best to read contemporary trauma resources in conjunction with the above-mentioned film in order to gain insight into both the girl in the film and how the approach to and treatment of children with attachment issues has evolved as a field over the years.

After watching the follow-up movies and scouring the internet for information, it is clear that the life of Beth Thomas after the documentary “Child of Rage” is a very messy, painful and also hopeful journey of recovery from her previous condition of Reactive Attachment Disorder (R.A.D.A.). The little girl that you saw in the documentary was a child of about 5 or 6 years of age that was in deep need of Therapy. Many years of intense Therapy followed, and as the years passed by the documentary footage of a wild child in deep need of help was gradually replaced by footage of a young girl developing and growing up as a normal young girl in deep need of ongoing help.

There are two main lessons I take from Beth Thomas’ story now: first, people can really change when they receive enough sustained, compassionate help to work through their past; second, there is a difference between how stories of trauma and child abuse were framed during the ‘Child of Rage’ documentary era and how those same stories would be framed today – mostly in terms of how much of the healing work (i.e., therapy, stable, supportive people, education, etc.) is revealed in follow-up stories about that same abuse victim. Most of what Beth does with her life today involves helping to work with children who have also been subjected to early abuse.

It would be great to have follow-ups on other stories told in documentaries today with as much depth and respect as is currently offered by today’s science on trauma. For now, thanks to the The Lord for Beth’s story and its contributions to opening up discussion on children affected by trauma.