Barbara Klein

Dr. Barbara Klein has been an author, researcher, and educational consultant in the United States since 1986 and is recognized as an international expert on twin development and gifted and highly gifted children.

Dr. Klein earned an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a Masters and Doctorate in Early Childhood Education from the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California Graduate Institute in Los Angeles. She has lectured around the country and in Canada, talking about twins and gifted children.

Dr. Klein has written 11 books in the field of developmental psychology and education, including her latest, New Understandings of Twin Relationships: From Harmony to Estrangement and Loneliness (with Stephen Hart and Jacqueline Martinez).

Dr. Klein's previous works include: Twin Dilemmas: Changing Relationships Throughout the Life Span;

The Challenges of Gifted Children: Empowering Parents to Maximize Their Child’s Potential;

Raising Gifted Kids: Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Exceptional Child Thrive;

Alone in the Mirror: Twins in Therapy;

Not All Twins Are Alike: Psychological Profiles of Twinship;

Early Adolescence and the Search for Self: A Developmental Perspective;

Forgotten Memories: A Journey Out of the Darkness of Sexual Abuse;

Issues in School Reform: A View From the Bottom Up (with John McNeil);

Curriculum Design: A Handbook for Educators (with Kathy Wulf); and

Identity and Intimacy in Twins (with Janet Ciriello).

Her most outstanding contribution to the field of education was her work developing the initial parent education component for Head Start, a program developed to enhance the school readiness of economically disadvantaged preschoolers.

TWINS

Dr. Klein's theory and research on twin attachment is grounded in the lived experiences of the twins she has worked with over the past 35 years, and informs other issues such as the importance of genetics, the environment, and parenting.

An estranged twin herself, Barbara understands that twins face serious challenges when approaching adulthood as they try to find their own voices and identities in the world.

Dr. Klein tackles the multifaceted effects of stress and trauma on twin attachments and explains how psychotherapy should be applied to this population. She consults with both adult twins and parents of twins.