Donna Housman, Ed.D has dedicated her career to serving young people, spending over three decades as a psychologist in the field of child development and early childhood education. Housman Institute is built on the emotional foundations of learning and cognition and is centered around her pioneering Emotional, Cognitive, and Social Early Learning model (ECSEL). Through the Institute’s diverse initiatives, Dr. Housman has trained and provided vital counsel for thousands of educators and families in her life-changing ECSEL approach.

Now, with her new ECSELent Adventures™ book series, she’s expanding her mission to equip children and caregivers with resources for healthy brain development. As an author, Dr. Housman skillfully engages readers in ECSEL principles with narratives that foster the building blocks of emotional intelligence. Through her dynamic series, children are taken on adventures that resonate with their observed or lived experiences as they learn how to manage their emotions and understand those of others on their journey in becoming the boss of their emotions. The first two titles, Gilly and the Garden and Theo’s Delicious Dumplings, were released by Brown Books Publishing Group in 2022, and the third and fourth installments, The Ottersons’ Eruption and Riley’s Really Big Worries arrive in 2023.

Informed by research in neuroscience, child development, and early education, Dr. Housman’s learning model, programs, and literature were designed to help inform the architecture of the brain in the earliest years. Having begun her career working with children and adolescents on issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicide, her belief that prevention is far easier than repair is integral to her methodology. Accordingly, Housman Institute, along with its lab, school, child development center, and wide-ranging resources, reflect Dr. Housman’s commitment to effective intervention that empowers parents, families, and all caregivers to engender a positive sense of self.

In addition to her roles as an educator, clinician, and CEO, Dr. Housman is an active presenter and speaker both nationally and internationally, as well as a valued board member for diverse organizations and contributor for multiple media outlets. Select highlights include:

PRESENTATIONS: American Education Research Association; National Association for the Education of Young Children; Zero to Three; Harvard China Education Symposium

MEDIA: The New York Times; Boston Globe; Boston Business Journal; Commonwealth Magazine; MarketWatch; Yahoo Finance; The Street; WBUR

MEMBERSHIPS: Founding Executive Board Member/Treasurer, Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health; Board Member, New England Center for Children; Member, Coalition of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Health Task Force