Marti Erickson

Children, Youth and Family Consortium
University of Minnesota
University Gateway, Suite #270A
200 Oak Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455-2002
Phone: (612) 625-7849
Fax: (612) 625-7815
E-Mail: mferick@tc.umn.edu

Director of the University of Minnesota’s Children, Youth and Family Consortium, Dr. Marti Erickson is a developmental psychologist specializing in parent-child attachment, child abuse prevention, and community-based approaches to strengthening families. She developed STEEP (Steps Toward Effective, Enjoyable Parenting), a preventive intervention program for parents and infants and continues to do related training and consultation with professionals in the U.S. and abroad. Marti is the author of many journal articles and book chapters, as well as the weekly parenting column Growing Concerns, which appears in newspapers and magazines around the country. She also is author of the book Infants, Toddlers, and Families: A Framework for Support and Intervention (Erickson & Kurz-Riemer, 1999), which is available from Guilford Press, New York. Marti appears regularly on television as the child and family expert on the KARE-11 Today Show and Sunrise Show. With a special interest in using the arts to educate and inspire, Marti writes music and is lead vocalist with Free Spirit, performing at professional conferences and community events to raise awareness about child and family issues. The group has produced three recordings and donates proceeds to programs that support families with young children.

Currently, her research is focusing on the role of fathers and couple relationships around the birth of a first child. She is co-investigator with family therapist and University of Minnesota professor Bill Doherty on "The Parenting Together Project," a study of the effectiveness of couple-focused intervention with new parents.

Since 1994 Marti has worked closely with Vice President Al Gore as co-sponsor of his annual family policy conference, Family Re-Union. She is co-chair of the national board of Father to Father, the national task force on Children’s Learning and The Arts, and the credentialing panel for Healthy Families America. Marti also serves on several other boards, including Prevent Child Abuse America, the National Institute on Media and the Family, MELD, the Development Corporation for Children, and St. David's Child Development and Family Services.

Marti earned her Bachelor of Science degree in child development and elementary education from Iowa State University, a master's degree in special education from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in educational psychology, also from Minnesota. But she says her most important credential is being the mother of Ryan and Erin, now young adults. --Revised 8/23/00