Emily P.G. Erickson is a writer who specializes in mental health and parenting. She has written for major digital publications, including Everyday Health, Health, Motherly, The New York Times, Parents, Reviewed, Romper, Scary Mommy, Verywell Family, Verywell Mind, WIRED, and more. Emily is a professional member of both the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ).
Emily’s writing, which often covers the practical application of science, benefits from her wide-ranging background.
Born in Chicago, Emily moved to Minnesota in 2004 to attend Macalester College. There, she majored in psychology and geography and worked as lab manager for a cognitive linguistics lab. She spent a semester abroad in northeast Thailand, where she began to study Buddhism and started a meditation practice that she continues to this day. During her senior year of college, Emily completed an honors project about the psychology of urban sustainability and was awarded the psychology department’s Walter D. Mink Endowed Prize, the geography department’s Hildegard Binder Johnson Prize, and the National Council of Geographic Education & Association of American Geographers Award for Excellence of Scholarship.
After graduating magna cum laude and being elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 2008, Emily put her honors project into practice and began working for the Department of Planning and Economic Development at the City of St. Paul. She eventually served as the city’s first sustainable transportation planner, a role focused on promoting environmental sustainability and public health. During her time at the city, she co-authored numerous public policy documents, including the Saint Paul Comprehensive Plan, and became known for her psychology-informed approach to public process.
Emily left urban planning to pursue graduate school in psychology, earning a master of arts in counseling psychology at the University of St. Thomas in 2015. As part of the program, she completed an 800-hour psychotherapy practicum at a community mental health clinic providing therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. At St. Thomas, she served as president of the graduate student organization and was awarded the Common Good Award for her outstanding contribution to the College of Education, Leadership, and Counseling and the greater community.
At the Graduate Writing Center at St. Thomas, Emily worked as a graduate writing consultant, coaching 384 master’s and doctoral student clients at all phases of the writing process. Students rated 100% of these sessions as “good” or “excellent.” She continued working as an editor privately in the following years.
During and after graduate school, Emily worked as a mental health researcher studying PTSD for the Department of Veterans Affairs. She conducted nearly 100 interviews for a half-million dollar, national study, and published scientific papers in the peer-reviewed research journals the Journal of Traumatic Stress; Psychological Services; and Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
After stepping back from research to focus on raising her three children, Emily began pursuing freelance writing in 2018. Since then, she’s published over 50 articles covering mental health and parenting for 20+ publications.
Emily is guided by the belief that we should share what we learn. She loves bringing personal insights, scientific findings, and expert advice to the public through writing. To connect with Emily, get in touch with her here.