Dr. Ron Goldman, PhD

Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., a psychological researcher, speaker, consultant, and writer, is the founder and Executive Director. His groundbreaking investigation of the unacknowledged adverse psychological and social aspects of circumcision includes hundreds of contacts with men, parents, Jews, and medical and mental health professionals. Dr. Goldman is internationally known for his expert work on circumcision and is the author of Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma and Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective. The first book, with a foreword by renowned anthropologist Ashley Montagu, is endorsed by dozens of professionals in mental health, medicine, and social science. It includes original work on the connections between circumcision and trauma for infants and the men they become. His book addressing Jewish circumcision is endorsed by five rabbis among others. It is the first such work to critically examine the ritual. Other writing has appeared in medical journals, newspapers, parenting publications, and Jewish periodicals. Dr. Goldman has participated in over 200 media interviews with radio and television shows, newspapers, wire services, and periodicals, and has been consulted by Time and Newsweek. As a recognized authority, he was invited by the Council of Europe as the only non-European to participate in an interdisciplinary dialogue about circumcision. He was also chosen by the Associated Press to comment on the latest circumcision report from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Various circumcision advocates, including chairpersons of the last two American Academy of Pediatrics Task Forces on Circumcision, have declined to debate with him when invited by national media. Dr. Goldman’s presentations on circumcision and its effects are offered independently to professionals, international symposia, universities, expectant parents, men, and the Jewish community. He also provides counseling for those making the circumcision decision and men who have issues connected with their circumcision. Also see Dr. Goldman’s speaking program website about other early childhood cultural practices and their effects on individuals and society.