Child in Mind

Promoting children's healthy development.
by Claudia M. Gold, M.D.

Understanding Childism: Are We Prejudiced Against Children?

Tears ran down Elena's cheeks as she described being so overwhelmed and full of rage that she forcefully held her fully clothed 4-year-old son, James, under the shower when he wouldn't go to bed. Later in the same 50-minute visit she revealed that she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse as a child. Read More

Early Influences on Development: a Book Review

As I have delved into the field of developmental science in recent years, I have become increasingly aware of the effects of stress in pregnancy and early infancy on long term develpmental outcome. In fact, I have just started a new program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital that aims to identify and work with at risk mother-baby pairs from birth. Read More

Infant Mental Health: A Case of a Hitting Toddler

This month I launched a new program at Newton Wellesley Hospital, an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. I will see children under the age of six with a range of behavior issues, including, but not limited to, colic, sleep problems, explosive behavior and separation anxiety. Read More

Creativity in an Age of Psychopharmacology

Recently I attended a reception at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, MA for the new medical director. Read More

Emotional Regulation in Children: Using the Body to Help the Brain

I recently heard a great story from a parent in my behavioral pediatrics practice. Their son was very active and had a hard time settling down to learn, and so, before an early morning tutoring session, a very resourceful teacher suggested he ride a scooter down the empty halls to the room where a group of kids with reading difficulties met. Read More

Music, Children and Brain Development

Recently in my behavioral pediatrics practice I saw James, a 5-year-old boy (details, as always, have been changed to protect privacy) who struggled with severe social anxiety. The lunchroom and gym were particularly difficult, and he would retreat into silence. In a visit with his parents we were discussing how to approach the teachers about making him comfortable in school. Read More

When Time and Space Is the Treatment

In my pediatric practice, it is not uncommon for a parent, given the space and time, to reveal a critical and unexpected piece of information. Consider these two stories, with details changed to protect privacy. Jennifer's Mom was desperate for a change in her ADHD medication. A previous doctor had diagnosed her and now she was increasingly distracted in school. Read More

Keeping Our Children in Mind on the Anniversary of 9/11

When I first learned of the planes hitting the twin towers, my initial thought was that I wanted my children, then three and six, home with me. This is despite the fact that I live in an idyllic rural community 125 miles north of New York City that was in no way physically affected by the trauma. Read More

True Empathy: A Physical Sensation

Emily brought her son Micheal to see me in my pediatrics practice when he was 3 and 1/2 months old. He had been born one month premature, but it was clear from a first glance that he was doing well. I remember noticing that his mother was so close, physically close. She hovered over his carriage, reluctant to let me pick him up. She stood inches from him while I examined him. Read More

Don't Lose Your Cool: How Parents and Children Regulate (And Dysregulate) Each Other

When parents and children come to see me in my behavioral pediatric practice, they are angry, disconnected and sad. In moments of explosive behavior, both parent and child feel terribly out of control. My aim it to help them reconnect and in doing so, to calm down and find pleasure again in their relationship. Read More

The Overused and Oversimplified "ADHD" Label

Three events, one yesterday and two about a year ago, cause me to crash head-on into the sorry state of affairs that define ADHD diagnosis and treatment in our country.Yesterday, the Psychcentral website reported on a 29% increase in diagnosis of ADHD in children from 2007 to 2009 as described in a study coming from the U.S. Read More

Parenting and the Triad of Guilt, Blame, and Responsibility

In my pediatric practice, it is not uncommon for a mother, given the time, to move quickly away from telling me about her child's behavior problem, to talk about herself, sharing vivid stories of emotional distress from her own life. I may suggest that this distress could make it difficult for her to deal with the challenging behavior of her child. Read More

How to Grow a Child's Brain

Last summer I took an amazing course at the Cape Cod Institute entitled "Keeping the Brain in Mind."(The same course was taught again last week by therapist Francine Lapides) Over the week, extensive evidence was offered to show how a parent's attunement with her child's emotional experience, or her ability to, as I refer to in my new book, "hold her child's mind in mind," leads to a capac Read More

Ode to Grandmothers

Last week, a friend told me a story that motivated me to recognize the important role of grandmothers, not specifically for their grandchildren, but for their adult daughters who are now mothers. Read More

Buddhism, Psychoanalysis and Jewish Theology

A delightful benefit to get my ideas out into the world via the Internet is that people send me their books. Recently I received a book written by a person who describes himself as having been "awakened to the tradition of Zen Buddhism." I found the idea that someone thinks my work is related to Buddhism appealing. Read More

Dyadic Therapy: Working with the Parent-Child Relationship

One of the things of which I am most certain, based on my years of practicing pediatrics together with my years of being a mother (and also just my experience as a human being) is that what children need most is for the people who love and care for them to understand them, and to be with them in a way that communicates that understanding. For this reason, I have never understood why a youn Read More

An Exquisite Parenting Moment at the General Store

As I stood at the counter of our little general store waiting to buy my newspaper, I turned suddenly, along with all the other customers, to find the source of a loud, insistent voice coming from below the counter. Read More

Beyond Biederman and Antipsychotics for Young Children

In the blogging world there is a lot of understandable outrage about Biederman (though surprisingly little in the press-nothing in the New York Times and one holiday weekend piece in the Boston Globe.) There is outrage both about the finding that Biederman and his colleagues had, in fact, failed to disclose enormous consulting fees from the pharmaceutical companies, and that the punishment was Read More

"No" to Funding Cuts for Childhood Trauma Treatment Program

In a powerful recent  New York Times op ed, Post-Traumatic Childhood, leading trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk writes about the possible of loss of funding for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, an organization developed in 2001 to evaluate and develop treatments for traumatized children nationwide. He writes: Read More

Think Infants and Prevention on Children's Mental Health Awareness Day

Three-month-old Jenna sleeps peacefully in her mother's lap. The cards seem stacked against her. Cara at 17 is struggling to finish high school. She has been diagnosed in the past with depression and anxiety, but currently is receiving no treatment. Her primary care doctor, who referred her to me, has been prescribing an anti-anxiety medication as a temporizing measure. Read More

Psychiatric "Disorders" in Young Children? Be Very Careful!

"Mental Health Disorder" are big words to put on a small person. Sensory processing disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, to name a few, are being given to preschoolers, toddlers and even infants. Read More

Yes—Ban Prescribing of Antipsychotics to Children Age 5 and Under

As a pediatrician with expertise in children's emotional development, I propose that based on these finding there be a ban on use of antipsychotics in children age 5 and under. This is the period of time when the brain is undergoing the most rapid growth and development. Read More

Claudia Gold, M.D.

Claudia M. Gold, M.D., is a pediatrician and fellow in the University of Massachusetts Boston Infant Parent Mental Health Post Graduate Certificate Program.

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About Child in Mind

My blog speaks to parents, professionals who work with children, and policy makers. Through stories from my behavioral pediatrics practice (with details changed to protect privacy) I  show how contemporary research in child development can be applied to support parents in their efforts to facilitate their children’s healthy emotional development. I  address factors that converge to obstruct such support. These include limited access to quality mental health care, influences of a powerful health insurance industry and intensive marketing efforts by the pharmaceutical industry.

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Books by Claudia M. Gold, M.D.

Image of Keeping Your Child in Mind: Overcoming Defiance, Tantrums, and Other Everyday Behavior Problems by Seeing the World through Your Child's Eyes (A Merloyd Lawrence Book)
Keeping Your Child in Mind: Overcoming Defiance, Tantrums, and Other Everyday Behavior Problems by Seeing the World through Your Child's Eyes (A Merloyd Lawrence Book)