I’m Dr. Jeannine Gohman, a clinical psychologist, author, and lifelong student of human development and relationships.

For decades, I have been interested in a question that lies at the heart of both psychology and parenting: What is really happening beneath the behavior we see?

A child’s defiance may be communicating fear. Anger may be protecting vulnerability. Withdrawal may reflect a need for safety. And the patterns we struggle with as adults often have histories that began long before we understood them.

My work is grounded in the belief that behavior has meaning. When we approach ourselves and others with curiosity rather than judgment, we begin to understand not only what people do, but why they do it. That understanding can transform the way we parent, the way we relate, and the way we understand ourselves.

My Professional Background

I earned my Doctor of Psychology degree from The George Washington University and have spent much of my professional life studying and working in the areas of attachment, child development, relationships, and psychodynamic psychology.

My clinical work has included children, parents, adults, and families. I have also worked in clinical leadership, consultation, and professional supervision.

My thinking has been deeply influenced by attachment theory and the work of clinicians and researchers who have helped us understand the importance of our earliest relationships. My training and experience have also drawn from psychoanalytic and psychodynamic traditions, developmental psychology, mentalization, and contemporary understandings of the emotional life of children and adults.

Throughout my career, I have been especially interested in the relationship between what happens early in life and the ways we later experience ourselves, other people, and the world.

How I Approach My Work

I believe meaningful change begins with understanding.

Rather than simply asking, “How do we stop this behavior?” I encourage a different question:

“What is this behavior trying to tell us?”

This is particularly important with children. Children do not always have the words to explain what they are feeling or needing. Their behavior often becomes their language.

But I believe the same principle applies throughout life.

We all have behaviors, reactions, defenses, and relationship patterns that make more sense when we understand the experiences and emotions beneath them.

My approach is guided by four principles:

Connection. Relationships are where growth begins.

Curiosity. Every behavior has a meaning and every person has a story.

Compassion. Understanding opens the door to change.

Confidence. Insight helps us respond with greater clarity rather than fear.

Why I Created Ask Dr. Gohman

I created Ask Dr. Gohman as a place to bring together the work and ideas that have shaped my professional life.

I wanted to create a space where parents could find thoughtful guidance about their children, where people could ask questions about relationships and emotional life, and where professionals and others interested in psychology could explore attachment, development, and the deeper forces that shape who we become.

This is also a home for my writing.

Over the years, I have written and thought extensively about attachment, parenting, child development, psychotherapy, relationships, and the inner life. Through my books and other writing, I hope to make complex psychological ideas understandable, useful, and deeply human.

My goal is not to offer simple formulas for complicated people.

It is to help us become more curious.

To look beneath behavior.

To understand before we judge.

And to recognize that behind every behavior is a person with a history, an inner world, and a story worth understanding.