


Claudia M. Gold, MD is a pediatrician and writer who practiced general and behavioral pediatrics for over 20 years and now specializes in early childhood mental health. While working on the front lines in a busy rural practice, she “discovered” the world of research and knowledge in the field of infant mental health through her studies with the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute in the early 2000’s. The experience led to a profound transformation of her clinical work with families. She has devoted her professional life to spreading this knowledge through writing, teaching, and public speaking. She is on the faculty of the Early Relational Health fellowship at UMass Chan Medical School, the Brazelton Institute at Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute. She developed an infant-parent mental health program at the Austen Riggs Center, which led to creation of the Hello It’s Me Project, a program supporting parent-infant relationships in high-need, low resourced communities, of which she is the Executive Director. Dr. Gold has extensive experience with families hard hit by the opioid crisis in her community in Western Massachusetts, and currently works as a clinician with Volunteers in Medicine, Berkshires serving a primarily immigrant population. Dr. Gold speaks frequently to a variety of audiences including parents and professionals. Her most recent book, The Power of Discord: Why the Ups and downs of Relationships are the Secret to Building Intimacy, Resilience and Trust co-authored with Ed Tronick, was released in June 2020. Her other books include The Developmental Science of Early Childhood (2017), The Silenced Child (2016), and Keeping Your Child in Mind (2011) A fifth book Learning from Babies: How Our Earliest Relationships Teach Us to Navigate Uncertainty and Loss is forthcoming. She writes regularly for her blog Child in Mind. Dr. Gold received her BA from the University of Chicago and MD from U of C Pritzker School of Medicine.

Articles
Child Protection and Infant Mental Health: An Essential Partnership
– West Virginia Law Review
Working with the Young Child:
Clinical Implications of Contemporary Developmental Science
– (2017) Zero to Three Vol 38 No 2 November
A Scholar’s Quest to Integrate Two Disciplines
– (2006) The American Psychoanalyst 40(3)
Contemporary Attachment Theory Offers New Paradigm for Behavioral Pediatrics
– (2008) Behavioral Developments 13(1)

Op Eds
01/25/10
Many will sink with healthcare ship
9/14/09
How can we end the cycle of bullying?
9/13/10
By the book, but breaking a bond
3/1/10
Warning label on new diagnosis
6/30/08
Mind-altering drugs and the problem child
4/27/09
Medicating your grief won’t help you heal
3/30/09
Backed into a treatment corner
6/14/10
Distracted Parenting: Hang Up and See Your Baby
01/26/09
Medication can’t fix a broken childhood
for history, education, experience and PR