DOROTHY ANN WEINSTEIN GOLD, Ph. D., DABPS, RDH
Dorothy (known as “Dottie” to her oldest friends) born January 30, 1941, and died Sunday, October 8, 2023. She was a caring person who took care of others, both personally and professionally. She loved art, music and theater, and particularly her clock collection.
She was born in Boston, Massachusetts (Beacon Hill), grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts until she moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1966.
Dr. Gold was initially a dental hygienist (Forsyth School for Dental Hygienists (1960)) whose most memorable work was on the famous psychologist B.F. Skinner. She worked as a dental hygienist in Boston and in Pittsburgh over a span of 15 years.
She also received degrees from Northeastern University, B.S. (1967), University of Pittsburgh, M.Ed. (1976), Ph.D. (1980). She became licensed as a psychologist in 1983 and worked as a psychologist in Pittsburgh, PA until her retirement in 2022.
She was active in the psychological community since 1983. She taught in numerous colleges and universities teaching psychology courses in Group Dynamics and other areas. She became Director of Project Achievement, a state-funded program for educationally and economically disadvantaged people at La Roche College. At the same time, she supervised doctoral students to work with college students’ psychological issues.
She next worked as a psychologist at Woodville State Hospital. After the state started closing psychiatric hospitals, she transferred to the State Correctional Institution in Pittsburgh, rising to Co-Chief Psychologist, becoming the first woman in the state in that position in a men’s maximum security prison.
After retiring from the state, she worked with the aged in a number of nursing homes. She then worked as Regional Psychologist in Western Pennsylvania for Vericare, based in San Diego, California, where she was responsible for hiring, training, and supervising psychologists at numerous locations in western PA. After her second retirement, she worked in private practice for Speigel Freedman Psychological Services, and then for her own private practice in Irwin, PA.
As a psychologist, she was active in the Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association in such positions as Treasurer and as Editor of their newsletter. She was involved in many activities, presented in Pennsylvania state PPA conferences, taught many courses and took many programs in anxiety reduction and in depression treatments, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Interpersonal therapy. She specialized in PTSD, anxiety and depression. She never stopped taking courses and learning ways of helping people handle their lives with comfort.
She loved to collect art, antique clocks, and going to the theater and museums. Later in life, she picked up playing piano after decades of not playing. Earlier in life she loved outdoor activities: camping, staying at a farmhouse in the PA Amish country, etc.
She took many trips during her lifetime: Amish counties in PA; New Zealand; England; and a post-college trip through Europe.
She passes along her devotion to treating others with respect to her sons, Steven and David (Diane) and her granddaughter, Natalia.
A Graveside service will be held Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 1 p.m. at the Homewood Cemetery, 1599 S. Dallas Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217.
In lieu of flowers, Dr. Gold’s family requests that donations be made to the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or the charity of the donor’s choice.
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