Mom forced son, 8, who kept wetting himself to buy new pants with allowance - even though he had medical issue
Dr. Andrea Mata, who runs the webinar 'Gentle Parenting Doesn't Work', made the shock confession while speaking with The Wall Street Journal.
The 41-year-old spoke with the outlet about a growing number of parents who are ditching a soft approach to parenting and adopting a harder stance.
She said that recently her son had been wetting himself and she believed that he had been ignoring the urge to go to the bathroom.
Following repeat episodes, she admitted to the outlet that she had told her child to use his own allowance to pay for new underpants.
Dr. Mata later discovered her son was dealing with a medical issue, which has now been resolved, and she apologized to him.
But sticking with her hard stance on parenting, she said that she refused to reimburse him because he had lied to her about it and covered it up.
She told the WSJ that she would stand by the idea of repercussions if a child intentionally falls shorts of their expected behavior.
Dr. Mata has been widely criticized for her remarks by readers of the publication, with some branding her 'tone deaf' for her response.
One person said: 'If you've embarrassed a kid with a medical issue - you owe them way more than an apology.
'What a horrible unfeeling parenting. Really? We're penalizing the kid for being ashamed about peeing in his pants at eight? Poor child.'
Another said: 'The clinical child psychologist telling this story ignored an important flaw in her own thinking.
'She was tone deaf to a young boy's shame and embarrassment, she punished him anyway when he understandably hid it as any eight-year-old would do, and then she publishes the details using her own name so all of her son's friends will be aware of his humiliation.
'That is a lesson in poor parenting, and her son will never forget it.'
One other added: 'No "doctor" Mata, you don't need a PhD. You do, though, need yours taken away for putting a child's health at risk.'
Another reader said they agreed with the hard parenting stance but still took aim at Dr. Mata.
They added: 'The child psychologist who can't admit their own mistake and still made their eight-year-old kid pay for something caused by a medical issue that the parent ignored is a useless example for this article.
'That person probably needs an adult psychologist to help with their own issues.'
For her remarks, Dr Mata has been widely criticized by readers of the publication
According to an online profile, Dr. Mata graduated from Valparaiso University, in Indiana, after majoring in psychology.
She previously worked as a college professor at the University of Findlay, Ohio, for nine years.
She and her husband Jim have three children, girl-boy twins and a younger daughter.
After the article went live she expressed her delight in being featured by sharing a post to her Instagram.
She said: 'HOLY S***!!! I'm featured in the WSJ. Goodbye, gentle parenting! It wasn't nice knowing you! Good riddance'.
The Daily Mail has approached Dr. Mata for comment on the remarks.
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