Introducing Carolyn NewbergerCarolyn Newberger is a clinical and research psychologist, artist, flutist, and essayist. Carolyn's deepest interests have always concerned people and their lives. A long career in psychology reflects these interests, as do her art and writing. Carolyn grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended Sarah Lawrence College. She married Eli Newberger in 1962 and worked as a teacher while he attended medical school. In 1967, she and Eli traveled to West Africa with their infant daughter for two years in Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), where Eli was the Peace Corps doctor.
After returning from Africa, Carolyn earned a doctorate in Human Development from Harvard University and trained in clinical psychology at the Judge Baker Children's Center and Children's Hospital, which are affiliated with Harvard Medical School. After completing her graduate training, she continued at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital in clinical and academic roles doing research, teaching, and clinical practice. She has written over 35 publications related to child and family development, social policy, and the effects of child maltreatment on children and families. She has received the humanitarian award from the Massachusetts Psychological Association, the career achievement award from Sarah Lawrence College, and fellowships from the Danforth Foundation and the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College.
In addition to professional and research articles (view Curriculum Vitae), Carolyn Newberger published book reviews, op.ed. pieces, and essays in the Boston Globe and occasionally other magazines and newspapers. She is currently working on a series of autobiographical stories about such topics as tap dancing, discovering art, and life with (and after) a 90+ year old mother. The baby she took to Africa has grown up and married a wonderful Cameroonian man she met in her own Peace Corps years. They have two beautiful children who are the delight of their grandparents
On the music side, Carolyn studied flute with Bernard Goldberg, principal flute with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Samuel Baron, music director and flutist with the Bach Aria Group in New York. Following her training, she performed professionally in New Haven, Connecticut for five years, substituting with the New Haven Symphony, and even carrying piccolo and lyre with the Governor's Footguard Band. Although she has continued to play flute avocationally, she picked up her piccolo again in 2006, and now performs flute and piccolo with the Cupcake Philharmonic Orchestra, a chamber ensemble that performs "Tubby the Tuba," among other modern works. The other members of the group include Mike Roylance, principal tuba with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Amanda Roylance, trumpet, and Eli Newberger, piano and synthesizer.
Carolyn's great passion (besides her husband and extended family) is art. In 2003, she discovered that her childhood love for and talent as an artist resides in her still, and she jumped right in. She is hopeful that her mother's longevity will be passed on to her, and that she will have enough time to develop as far as her artistic potential and sweat will carry her.
In these pages, Carolyn invites you to view her watercolor paintings, portraits, and figure drawings, to sample writings on her research and clinical insights into the lives of children and families, and to enjoy her essays and personal memoirs on life's curveballs and complexities.
Read Carolyn's Artist Statement or view examples of her work.