Some children learned early that adults are not safe.

Their behavior is not the problem.
It is the message.

For thirty-four years, two people have been listening.

From the Clinic and the Classroom The Attachment
Code Breakers Dr. Franklin Edward Shoemaker, PhD  ·  Tonya A. Sharrett-Shoemaker, MA
DR. RADThe Attachment Code Breaker

Clinician · Educator · Authors · Advocates

Decode the patterns. Break the cycles. Transform the future.

Dr. Franklin “Ed” Shoemaker and Tonya Sharrett-Shoemaker have spent more than three decades in residential treatment rooms, courtrooms, foster homes, and classrooms — beside the children everyone else called “too much.” Now their work lives on the page, too.

Hear the families Invite Ed & Tonya
Tonya Sharrett-Shoemaker and Dr. Ed Shoemaker smiling together against a backdrop of autumn leaves
Tonya & Ed — 34+ years each, one mission.
34 years in the trenches PhD, LMHC-QS Nationally certified TF-CBT clinician Nationally accredited adoption specialist 2024 Teacher of the Year 13 books · No Magic Wand series Irene Sullivan Adoption Advocacy Award nominee 6 Florida counties · the hardest cases
Act I

Before they were authors,
they were in the room.

From the Clinic

Dr. Franklin Edward Shoemaker

PhD, LMHC-QS · “Mr. Ed” · “Dr. Ed”

A practitioner-scholar with 34 years across residential treatment, forensic psychology, therapeutic foster care, clinical leadership, and trauma-responsive education. His 2016 doctoral research examined how child maltreatment fuels the severity of attachment difficulties in children ages five and older — and he has spent his career turning that evidence into a different response to struggling kids.

  • Nationally certified TF-CBT clinician
  • Nationally accredited adoption specialist
  • Nominated for the Irene Sullivan Adoption Advocacy Award, Pinellas County (2011)
  • Trusted on cases across Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota, Hernando, Polk & Hillsborough counties

From the Classroom

Tonya A. Sharrett-Shoemaker

MA · Educator · Counselor

An award-winning educator, counselor, and trauma-responsive visionary named 2024 Teacher of the Year, with more than 34 years of classroom leadership. Tonya knows what a child carries through the school door — and what a parent in crisis can actually hold onto at two in the morning.

  • 2024 Teacher of the Year
  • 34+ years of classroom leadership
  • Trauma-responsive education advocate
  • Co-author, From the Clinic and the Classroom — No Magic Wand

A foster parent & clinical consultant wrote in:

Even our therapeutic agency called her abusive and escalating… rather than realizing that the escalation is a part of the healing process, not a sign things are failing.

“You are the first person who I have heard so accurately emphasize the importance of this in RAD… There will be other parents of RAD kids searching on Facebook, sifting, trying to see they aren’t completely alone — that there are some people out there who don’t consider their kid a villain but a severely traumatized child who was never given consistent attachment to a primary caregiver. I wish everyone from our previous therapeutic agency could read this. And so many more people.”

S.W., Parent & Clinical Consultant
Act II

The families
remember.

SceneMaryland courtroomCase closed
“Her case closed today. She gave a heartfelt speech in the courtroom about how much her mom and dad have helped her, and how happy she is to have a brother and sister that love her. Everyone clapped, and many of us were wiping tears from our eyes. It’s a remarkable transformation. You and your team are incredible, and I’m so glad I found you.”
S.F., Guardian ad Litem — MD
“Dr. Ed, not sure if you remember us, but I wanted to share about MD. Thanks so much for all you did during his senior year of high school. Now he is graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.”
M.D.’s Mom — FL
“We are forever grateful for everything you did for us in adopting our grandchildren during that terrible court case. The most important thing we learned from you is: ‘Unless the child is doing something dangerous to himself, others, or property, simply ignore the behavior.’ We’ve never forgotten that because it works.”
J.Z., Grandparent — NC
“I just wanted to come in and thank you for letting God use you in my life… I know I only saw you twice but that was the perfect time in God’s hands. I have forgiven the ones who betrayed me. I am looking at the future with hope and looking forward to helping others.”
A.R., Daughter, Mother, Wife — FL
“Thank God for men like you who are watchmen on the walls, guarding the flock! The past six months have been unbelievably hard and the Lord’s mercy is all we have at times!”
J.E. — FL
Act III

Called in for
the hardest cases.

Child welfare, guardians ad litem, and adoption professionals across Florida — in their words.

01
“A wonderful advocate for transitioning children to adoption. He works tirelessly with families and children and is available at a moment’s notice.”
A.B., Adoption Professional — FL
02
“Has taken on assignments that required him to go above and beyond reasonable expectations, including outings with families, numerous court appearances, and countless staffings.”
C.C., Child Welfare Specialist — FL
03
“Works on some of the most trying cases in Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota, Hernando, Polk, and Hillsborough counties. Professionals consistently say he is easy to talk to and keeps an open mind with all clients.”
J.C., Case Management Supervisor — FL
04
“A valuable asset to the adoption community. Professionals have grown to rely on his expertise and commitment to some of the most difficult cases.”
K.K., Adoption Coordinator — FL
05
“In 2011, ‘Mr. Ed’ was recognized as an unsung hero in adoption advocacy when he was nominated for the Irene Sullivan Adoption Advocacy Award in Pinellas County.”
L.T., Adoption Advocate — FL
PinellasPascoSarasotaHernandoPolkHillsborough

Mental health professionals, coast to coast

“Finally, a platform that speaks truth with clinical integrity.”
J.R., LMHC — FL
“Trauma-informed, research-driven, and refreshingly honest.”
S.M., Psychologist — MN
“A lifeline for families navigating cultural chaos.”
T.L., LCSW — WA
“Clear, grounded, and clinically sound.”
B.A., Psychiatric Nurse — TX
“Essential reading for anyone working with families.”
C.F., MFT — CA
“A steady voice of reason in a time of confusion.”
W.D., Mental Health Advocate — GA

From research to a different response.

Facts.

What the evidence says maltreatment does to a child’s ability to trust.

Focus.

Look beneath the behavior — through the lens of trauma, not blame.

Fire.

The resolve to respond differently, every day, until safety takes root.

“That makes your Facts, Focus, and Fire framework more than a slogan.” — Eleanor Kensington, Co-Organizer, Prominent Book Club

Now Showing

From the Clinic and the Classroom — No Magic Wand.

Poster: a cracked padlock glowing blue above the words Decode the pattern. Break the cycle. Or keep buying the band-aid.
Decode the pattern. Break the cycle.
Poster: The Clinic, The Classroom — 34 Years. Zero Wands. A shattering padlock amid blue lightning, signed Shoemaker & Sharrett-Shoemaker.
34 years. Zero wands.
Poster: From the Clinic and the Classroom, No Magic Wand — a padlock bursts apart between a therapy office and a classroom chalkboard reading Lesson, Understand, Support, Empower.
The clinic & the classroom
Act IV

Now the readers
are writing in.

From the Clinic and the Classroom — No Magic Wand: thirteen books that are part neuroscience, part forensic clarity, and part lived-experience truth.

Front cover of Breaking the Attachment Code: two children walk hand in hand through a broken iron gate toward golden light

Clinical · Research · Caregiving

Breaking the Attachment Code

How Child Maltreatment Fuels Attachment Difficulties in Children Ages 5 and Older

“It asks readers to look more closely at what may be driving the severity of those difficulties and what changes when adults understand the behavior through the lens of trauma rather than treating it as the problem itself.”
Eleanor Kensington, Co-Organizer — Prominent Book Club

Invited for a Featured Author Presentation

Front cover of Jesus Matters ZAP, A 365-Day Attachment Devotional, in cream and gold lettering on deep navy

Devotional · Faith & Attachment · 236 pages

Jesus Matters ZAP

A 365-Day Attachment Devotional — Kindle Unlimited · 5.0 average rating

“I loved that the entries make readers feel understood rather than assessed, and that the Propel steps are specific enough to do in a single afternoon. That mix of clinical clarity and tenderness would speak to the parents and caregivers in our club.”
Charlotte, Executive Super Organizer — Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Meetup
“Treats attachment science and Christian theology as partners rather than rivals… not a performance devotional but a daily conversation with the God who is not afraid of where you are.”
Joel C. — Parents, Families & Adoption Journeys
Front cover of Round Town Rumors: neon-blue title over a glowing jack-o’-lantern and a padlock on a circular road

Psychological Thriller · Small-Town Mystery

Round Town Rumors

A Circleville Thriller Where the Attachment Code Never Stays Buried — 5.0 stars from early readers

“A small-town thriller rooted in the real-life Circleville Letter Writer mystery… a distinctive blend of psychological suspense, true-crime atmosphere, and deep insight into human behavior that would give our readers much to discuss.”
Susan Morris — Oprah’s Book Club community on Goodreads (~87,000 members)

Also in the series

  • The Code Breaker Years
  • You Cannot Schedule a Break
  • The Untyped Life
  • The Unspoken Record
  • The Woke Mind

Invited to the table

01Prominent Book Club

Featured Author Presentation — Breaking the Attachment Code

02Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Meetup

Live December author event on Google Meet — Jesus Matters ZAP

03Oprah’s Book Club community on Goodreads

6-month reading challenge — Round Town Rumors

The Next Scene

Somewhere, a parent is searching at 2 a.m.
Help them find this.

Share this page with a foster family, an adoptive parent, a caseworker, a teacher, or a book club. Then invite Ed and Tonya to speak, train, or join your reader community.

Extend an invitation