About Tovah Klein
Tovah P. Klein, Ph.D. is Director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development and a psychology professor at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is author of
Raising Resilience: How to Help Our Children Thrive in Times of Uncertainty and
How Toddlers Thrive: What Parents Can Do Today for Children Ages 2-5
to Plant the Seeds of Lifelong Success.
Dr. Klein's work with families of children and teens spans over three decades and thousands of families. As a researcher she has investigated parenting challenges, including work and family; play as a way to process emotions; impact of parents on children’s learning and emotions; and child trauma including 9/11 and the TÅhoku Japan earthquake-tsunami and nuclear meltdown. She conducted a study of “Parenting During Covid” with over 100 participants interviewed about their own and their children's experiences and responses to the pandemic.
Dr. Klein is an author on over one hundred research articles and conference presentations related to child development and parental influences. She has presented at professional conferences internationally, including the International Play Conference in Wales; the Inaugural International True Play conference in Anji, China; the Cities and Children initiative in Istanbul, Turkey and the Work-Family Researchers Network in Montreal.
She works with foster care agencies and programs for children living in poverty in the US and abroad. Her research collaboration with a Columbia University developmental neuroscientist looks at the impact of parents on children’s early learning and emotional capacities. This work aims to understand the foundations of children's lifelong growth pathways.
Dr. Klein writes for and is frequently quoted in the media, including
The
New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Parents, Motherly, Business Insider, Popsugar,
Purewow, and
Slate. She has spoken on children’s needs, including COVID and responses to tragic news, on
Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC,
Today, and NPR. She consults worldwide to programs for families and children. She is a former developmental advisor to
Sesame Street, and an advisor to Room to Grow, Ubuntu Pathways South Africa, Hunts Point Alliance for Children, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. She consults to children’s media including HBO, National Geographic, and Apple TV+.
Dr. Klein graduated with honors in psychology from University of Michigan and holds a doctorate in clinical and developmental psychology from Duke University. She was a clinical fellow at Harvard University Medical School and completed her clinical internship at Boston Children’s Hospital. She was a visiting scholar at UCLA and a policy fellow at the Yale Child Study Center.
Klein lives in NYC with her family and is the mother of three sons.
As a child psychologist, I’ve specialized in the effects of traumatic situations on children and families. I knew from my previous and ongoing research that children and adults had the capacity to emerge changed but not scarred from tragedy—if certain factors were in place.
Specifically, when parents stay connected and attuned and provide children with emotional safety and security, they create a protective effect against lasting harm, even in the toughest situations.
In the Media
TODAY
These are the 9 minutes in your child's day when they need you the most
Guilt-ridden mom Sara Martinez breathed a sigh of relief when she read about The 9-Minute Theory. Then she shared it with her TikTok followers in hopes that they would find comfort in it, too.
MOTHERLY
Welcoming new baby: How to help big sibling with the transition
Welcoming a new baby to the family when you have a toddler is a joyous occasion, but can also be fraught with trepidation and worry. With the help of some tried and true tips, the transition will be more manageable and you will better understand what your little big sibling is feeling.
education week
What Is Age-Appropriate Use of AI? 4 Developmental Stages to Know About
Today’s kindergartners will graduate in 2036, and when they do, they will need a command of artificially intelligent technologies that would have been difficult for most people to fathom just a couple years ago...
