Workshop Recap: Dr Claudia Gold: Listening In: A Model for Making Every Contact with Babies and Caregivers Count

On Monday, March 30, the New York Zero-to-Three Network held an online workshop entitled Listening In: A Model for Making Every Contact with Babies and Caregivers Count, led by pediatrician, author, and early relational health expert, Claudia M Gold, MD. This workshop, applicable to clinicians across disciplines, drew on ideas from Dr Gold’s recent publication, “Getting to Know You: Lessons in Early Relational Health from Infants and Caregivers”. In her work, Dr Gold describes a model of listening which involves observing and interacting with families in ways that create connection, promote healing, and facilitate early relational health.

Dr. Gold uses the concept of “Listening In” as the organizational frame for understanding how, by taking a “not-knowing” stance, suspending expectations, and replacing certainty with humility, the clinician can be open to the full richness of the infant and caregiver experience. This “not-knowing” stance on the part of the clinician creates a sense of safety for the caregiver, facilitating a more curious, empathic, and playful relationship with the baby. A “not-knowing” stance and a willingness to make mistakes contrast with the posture of expertise and certainty which clinicians/professionals often bring to their interactions with families. 

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Dr. Gold looks at the work with infants and parents from the perspectives of the baby, the caregiver, the relationship (as a distinct entity), and the culture. She also explains the core early relational health principles of repair, reflective functioning, and the healing power of safety. Drawing on her work with Dr. Ed Tronick, she describes how development is a microscopic interactive process of mismatch and repair in which the baby is an active participant. Parent and infant are naturally out of sync much of the time; however, the process of repair is what leads to recovery and healthy development.  Dr. Gold also describes how, through the process of infant observation facilitated by the clinician, parents can become more fully engaged with their baby and develop their reflective capacities. While caregiver trauma and loss can impede reflective functioning, the clinician’s position of “listening in” and taking a “not knowing” stance can support the grieving process and lead to healing. Through clinical vignettes of infants and parents, Dr Gold demonstrates how, in real life, the “not knowing stance” promotes safety and leads to healing connections for all participants.