Gerard Costa, Ph.D.
Associate Faculty - Infant & Early Childhood Development - School of Psychology | Fielding Graduate University
Montclair, NJ, CA, UNITED STATES
Committed to professional "formation" in student development, with emphasis on "ways of knowing", "ways of doing" and "ways of being."
Biography
Dr. Gerard Costa is a licensed developmental psychologist and founding director of the Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health at Montclair State University. He holds certificates in the Brazelton Touchpoints model, DIR-C®, and Infant Mental Health. He was a gubernatorial appointment to the New Jersey Council for Young Children; and is Principal Investigator of the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence (ACE) Coordinating Center at Montclair State University, that oversees more than 20 clinical research sites in New Jersey.
Dr. Costa also heads the New Jersey Initiatives that oversee the Pyramid Model, infant and early childhood mental health professional development, and promote full inclusion. He led statewide multi-year projects on Infant Mental Health in Wyoming and South Dakota. He is a training leader in the DIR approach and is a member of the Board of Directors of ICDL. He oversaw the development and continuing implementation of a statewide infant-child mental health professional development curriculum, "Keeping Babies and Children in Mind." Dr. Costa has published papers and presented on autism; infant mental health; and professional and human development, throughout the United States and the world.
Industry Expertise (6)
Education/Learning
Research
Health and Wellness
Mental Health Care
Program Development
Professional Training and Coaching
Areas of Expertise (7)
Infant Mental Health
Developmental Approaches to Autism
Impact of Exposure to Trauma and Violence on Children
Interpersonal Neurobiology
Professional Formation (Development/Education)
Philosophy of Science and Evaluation of Evidence
Relationship-based Intervention and the Power of Affect
Education (4)
Temple University: PhD, Psychology: Deductive Reasoning 1988
Temple University: MA, Developmental Psychology 1978
Fairleigh Dickinson: MA, General-Theoretical Psychology 1976
St. Peter's College: BS, Psychology 1973
Links (1)
Media Appearances (5)
Trauma and its impact on brain development in children 0-3
(2014) Advocates for Children of New Jersey online
1 of 2 webinars
The unintended consequences of court intervention on children 0-3
(2014) Advocates for Children of New Jersey online
2 of 2 webinars
Stress and the Young Child
(2013) Zero to Three, Army New Parent Support Program online
Audio conference: Writer and featured speaker
Using Children’s Books to Promote Social, Emotional and Intellectual Development
(2010) Mommybites: Support, Resources, Education, Connections in New York, NY online
Writer and featured speaker 1 of 2 video podcasts
Do Babies Have Emotional Lives?
(2010) Mommybites: Support, Resources, Education, Connections in New York, NY
Writer and featured speaker
Articles (4)
Stronger than the storm: Keeping infants and young children in mind during the response to superstorm Sandy
(2013) Zero to Three
Costa, G., Mulrooney, K & Spinazzola, N.
What Staff Development Activities Can Be Used to Build Reflective Capacity?
(2009) Zero to Three Press
Costa, G. & Sullivan, Chapter 9, A Practical Guide to Reflective Supervision
Pervasive developmental disorders
(2009) John Wiley & Son
Costa, G. ,& Witten, M.R., Chapter 4, Evidence Based Practice in Infant and Early Childhood Psychology
Evaluations of causal and conditional hypotheses
(1986) The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
O'Brien, D.P., Costa, G., and Overton, W.F.