Who is Nancy?
Dr. Nancy Murphy is a trainer and educator on all forms of domestic violence.
Until the end of 2021, she served as the Executive Director of Northwest Family Life (NWFL), a faith-based learning and counseling center based in Seattle, Washington. NWFL is a non-profit agency dedicated to assisting individuals and families find hope and healing when confronting the pain of domestic violence, offering advocacy and support for abused women and children as well as a state-certified intervention program for batterers. Nancy was a Clinical Professor at The Seattle School for Theology and Psychology, Adjunct for Puget Sound Christian College and Guest Lecturer at Bakke Graduate University.
Raised in a missionary home on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Nancy grew up with a strong faith in the Lord. She began her scholastic career at Trinity Western College in British Columbia. After graduating with her A.A. degree, Nancy married and had three children but her married life was brutally marred by the trauma of domestic violence. Her passion for and commitment to the issue of domestic violence springs from her personal experience of abuse in her marriage; she eventually fled across the border to the United States with her three children. As a victim of extreme physical and emotional abuse, she escaped to Seattle where she finished her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Social Service through Seattle Pacific University. Nancy went on to complete a Master’s of Applied Behavioral Science at City University, with a major in Counseling and she is licensed as a mental health counselor in the state of Washington.
She completed her Doctorate of Ministry in Transformational Leadership through Bakke Graduate University. Nancy is now remarried and, in partnership with her husband Tom Murphy and their five children, is strengthened in her work against violence and abuse. To date they have 20 grandchildren.
Nancy is a renowned and compelling speaker on all forms of violence against women including domestic violence and human trafficking, with a strong focus on the restoration of the whole person in the aftermath of extreme trauma. She represented the US Department of State as a speaker on violence against women at an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting in Warsaw, Poland. She testified for
congressional hearings on domestic violence and trafficking in persons in Washington, D.C. and represented “A Woman’s Voice” at the U.N. Status of Women Conference in New York City, New York. She has spoken in Vietnam, Cambodia and Turkey. She has frequently been a guest on radio and television programs. Nancy is the author of God’s Reconciling Love: A Pastor’s Handbook On Domestic Violence (FaithTrust Institute, 2003) and the co-author of several research articles and chapters in books.
My Accomplishments
Over the past 26 years:
I've raised over $20million dollars for services to victims of domestic violence in my work as Executive Director of Northwest Family Life, based in Seattle WA.
I've trained and assisted over 100 masters level therapists to build trauma informed private practices.
I've presented at the UN on four occasions, presented before the US Congress, House Committees and the Helsinki Commision.
I've consulted with The Vietnamese Womens Association in Vietnam, trained in Cambodia, Moldova, Turkey, Kergystan, Scotland, Canada and the US for various organizations including World Vision, YWAM, ICAP.
I've taught as Adjunct Professor at The Seattle School for Theology and Psychology, Antioch University and Bakke Graduate School, guest lecturing for others.
I've trained advocates to provide support groups.
I've trained therapists to offer state certified domestic violence treatment providers.
I've carried a selective caseload as a licensed mental health counselor and clinical supervisor.
I have researched and published on domestic violence, focusing on Christian faith responses.
