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. In telling me Jennifer’s story, Mom focused on all the different medications she had been on and how they had controlled her symptoms. Towards the very end of the 50 minute visit Mom almost casually dropped this information. “She’s war ..read more

Note to readers: With a new book being released June 2nd, 2020,  I have relocated Child in Mind to my updated website.  Please sign up to here receive new posts!  Over the past two and a half years writing a book with psychologist Ed Tronick, who developed the still-face paradigm, I’ve immersed myself in contemplation of the sources of meaning in our lives. In our book, my experience as a pediatrician, mother, and daughter is added to the mix of insight that comes from Dr. Tronick’s decades of research observing intimate moments between mothers and infants to address basic questions we pose ..read more

Joy and love mix with disorganization, sometimes verging on chaos, when a new life enters the world. As renowned pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton and developmental psychologist Ed Tronick have wisely observed, that disorganization itself facilitates healthy growth and development as parents and baby engage in the messy process of getting to know each other.  The level of chaos and need when a new life enters a family in the grips of opioid use can feel overwhelming.  In a new statewide program in Massachusetts, brave and heroic individuals who have themselves navigated the treacherous wat ..read more

Soon we will we celebrate mothers for a day- bringing breakfast in bed, going out to dinner, buying flowers. In my personal experience, one of the greatest pleasures of Mother's Day is to take joy in my children as they grow and develop and make their way out into the world. D. W. Winnicott, pediatrician turned psychoanalyst, famously said, "There is no such thing as a baby." He meant that one cannot fully understand a baby without considering the relationship with the mother. Equally true is that without a child, there is no such thing as a mother. In order to understand a mother's ..read more