Gordon Neufeld

Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D.

Dr. Gordon Neufeld is a Vancouver-based developmental psychologist who consults with parents and professionals regarding children and their problems. He brings to us his unique synthesis of the developmental literature and his exceptional ability to make children understandable. He has a widespread reputation for being able to make sense of difficult and complex problems and for opening doors for change. His style is dynamic, his approach is refreshing and his effect is to affirm intuition.

Biographical Information

  • received his undergraduate degree from the University of Winnipeg and graduate degrees from the University of B.C. His doctorate was received in 1975 for study and research in the fields of clinical and developmental psychology.
  • taught highly popular courses in personality theory, developmental psychology and parent-child relationships at the University of British Columbia for almost 20 years
  • worked in forensic psychology for several years, specializing in the area of violent young offenders
  • has over 30 years of professional experience as a developmental and clinical psychologist in private practice in Vancouver, Canada
  • since 1981 has taught an annual course in Vancouver entitled Making Sense of Kids that has been well received and in demand by both parents and professionals
  • has served as a parent consultant to various media programs including CBC’s Almanac
  • is a husband to Joy, a father of five and a grandfather to three
  • current involvements include private practice, parent education, professional development for educators and continuing education for helping professionals.

Teaching Style

Gordon’s presentation style is fairly traditional, resembling that of ‘old fashioned university professor’. His ‘lectures’ are well organized and logically presented; questions and comments are always welcome. Those that are used to a more contemporary interactive style often express surprise and delight that he was able to capture and hold their interest for hours at a time. Gordon has a reputation for educating in a most engaging way, speaking with passion and compassion, and making difficult concepts easily understood, regardless of one’s degree of exposure to the psychological literature.

Theoretical Approach

For those that are aware of the conflicting paradigms within the field of psychology, Dr. Neufeld is considered by some to be a leading interpreter and communicator of the developmental approach. He provides a comprehensive model that has evolved from years of synthesis and distillation. The result is an integrated developmental approach rooted in depth psychology, grounded in the developmental paradigm, saturated in attachment theory, congruent with current neurological research, and honed by over 30 years of professional practice, parenting and personal reflection. In a world of fragmented knowledge, esoteric terminology, strategies divorced from their philosophical moorings, and a smorgasbord approach to treatment, Gordon Neufeld is a welcome relief. His integrated developmental model is a refreshing alternative to the current cognitive behavioural fare as well as to the medical ‘disorder’ approach. His model has clear and profound implications for parenting and teaching as well as treatment.

In the words of one fellow psychologist, “the uniqueness of Gordon is that in a day of focusing on the superficial and specializing in the specifics, he goes for depth and the big picture. He leads us to a way of thinking and seeing that penetrates to the very essence of things and then opens doors for change.”

Overview of Past Invited Presentations

National and international symposiums and conferences

Some of the accepted invitations in the past ten years include:

  • First National Symposium on Bullying (Ottawa, 2002)
  • Educational symposium on the state of education in Japan (Nagano, Japan, 2001)
  • Focus Conferences on Violence (several years)
  • International Counselling Congress (1996)
  • Canadian Teacher’s Federation Symposium on Youth Violence (Ottawa, 1994)
  • Educational Symposium in Portland, Oregon on the developmental approach to education (1994)
  • WONCA World Conference on Family Medicine (1992)

Professional development for educators and teaching assistants

Dr. Neufeld has been involved with schools and school districts from Oregon to the Yukon and from Victoria to Montreal as well as an education program in Japan. He has been extensively involved with the professional development of teachers in the public system as well as private schools, both secular and religious.

He has provided keynote presentations to national, provincial and state conferences as well as numerous district conferences. He has addressed particular groups (school board trustees, superintendents, administrators, counsellors, resource teachers, teaching assistants) as well as provided plenary sessions for districts that included everyone from the trustees and superintendents to the secretaries and bus drivers. He has also been involved extensively in school-based professional development, working with the staff of elementary schools, middle schools and secondary schools.

Over the last fifteen years, Dr. Neufeld has given seminars at many educational conferences, ranging in focus from early education to secondary, from mainstream to alternate education, from class-room teaching to special education, from teachable students to the most unteachable. Besides being a regular presenter at educational conferences, he has also provided three and four day courses on The Teachability Factor in various school districts and a week intensive on the Roots of Violence and Aggression in Montreal.

Gordon has worked more intensively with a number of school districts across Canada in promoting an attachment-based approach to teaching, a developmental approach to unteachable kids as well as a remedial approach to kids with behaviour problems. He has also provided ongoing consultation to severe behaviour programs at the elementary level as well as a number of different alternate education programs at the secondary level.

Inservice and continuing education for those who work with children and youth

Because of his ability to make sense of complex problems, Gordon is pursued continually by other professionals for continuing education. He has provided continuing education and inservice training to various professional groups including physicians, nurses, psychologists, clinical counsellors, family and youth workers. Some of the agencies and organizations that have solicited his services include:

  • professional organizations (including B.C. Psychological Association, Association of Clinical Counsellors, B.C. School Counsellors Association, Canadian Association for Young Children)
  • medical schools and hospitals
  • provincial ministries and community and health care agencies
  • universities and community colleges
  • training institutions (including the BC Justice Institute, Pacific Coast Family Therapy, BC Council for Families and the Canadian Correctional College).

Parent education

Gordon has provided hundreds of presentations to various kinds of parent groups. Because of time constraints and wanting to do more than ‘hit and run’, he has had to cut back significantly on this service. When invited and time permits, Gordon attempts to take his flagship course Making Sense of Kids on the road - usually in a double-weekend format. The invitations for this course have usually come from parent groups and churches outside the Vancouver area which is the home of his annual eight evening course for parents and professionals.

Seminars for parents and professionals

Gordon has presented hundreds of day seminars for mixed groups of parents and professionals in communities throughout B.C. and beyond. These day seminars are usually sponsored by community agencies, community colleges, churches or school districts. The most requested seminars are Getting Kids Unstuck, Making Sense of Adolescence, Roots of Violence & Aggression and The Peer Problem.

Seminars for parents and professionals involved with children with special needs

Gordon has provided seminars and courses to various groups involved with foster children, special needs adopted children, children diagnosed as ADD, delinquent youth, deaf children and gifted children.