Claudia M. Gold, MD is a pediatrician and writer who practiced general and behavioral pediatrics for over 20 years and now specializes in early relational health. While working on the front lines in a busy rural pediatrics 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 and the Brazelton Institute at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Gold has extensive experience with families hard hit by the opioid crisis in her community in rural Western Massachusetts, and currently works as a clinician with Volunteers in Medicine, Berkshires serving a primarily immigrant population.
Dr. Gold’s most recent book is Getting to Know You: Lessons in Early Relational Health from Infants and Caregivers ( Teachers College Press Spring 2025) She co-authored The Power of Discord: Why the Ups and downs of Relationships are the Secret to Building Intimacy, Resilience and Trust with infant researcher and psychologist Ed Tronick (Little, Brown Spark 2020) Her other books include The Developmental Science of Early Childhood (2017), The Silenced Child (2016), and Keeping Your Child in Mind (2011) Dr. Gold speaks frequently to a broad variety of audiences including both parents and professionals in the United States and around the world. She received her BA from the University of Chicago and MD from U of C Pritzker School of Medicine.
Dr. Gordon Neufeld
Developmental Psychologist
Dr. Gordon Neufeld is a Vancouver-based developmental psychologist with over 50 years of experience with children and youth and those responsible for them. A foremost authority on child development, Dr. Neufeld is an international speaker, a bestselling author (Hold On To Your Kids) and a leading interpreter of the developmental paradigm. Dr. Neufeld has a widespread reputation for making sense of complex problems and for opening doors for change. While formerly involved in university teaching and private practice, he now devotes his time to teaching and training others, including educators and helping professionals. His Neufeld Institute is now a world-wide charitable organisation devoted to applying developmental science to the task of raising children. He is a father of five and a grandfather to seven.