Selma Fraiberg was born in Detroit, Michigan, where she received her education, graduating from Wayne State University with a B.A. in 1940. In 1945 she received her M.S.W. from the same institution, and married Louis Fraiberg, professor of literature. Ms. Fraiberg did her psychoanalytic training at the Detroit Psychoanalytic Institute.

In 1945 Ms. Fraiberg became lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School at Ann Arbor. By 1968 she was professor of child psychoanalysis, becoming professor emeritus on her retirement in 1979. She was also professor of social casework at Tulane University, 1958-61, and lecturer and supervising child analyst at the Baltimore Psychoanalytic Institute, 1961-63. In 1967-69 Ms. Fraiberg was lecturer and supervisor of the Child Psychoanalytic Program, of the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1979 she cam to the University of California, San Francisco, as professor of child psychoanalysis, a position she held at her death in 1981.

Ms. Fraiberg was the author of four major books, including The Magic Years (1959) and Insights from the Blind (1977), both written with her husband, and Every Child's Birthright: In Defense of Mothering (1977). She also wrote some 56 scholarly articles and many articles for the lay public which appeared in popular periodicals. She lectured widely and received many grants for her training and research. She was a member of numerous professional organizations and received recognition from them for her work.