Martha E. Edwards, Ph.D.
Committee Chair, Early Career Membership

Martha Edwards is a senior faculty member and Director of the Center for the Developing Child and Family at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City. Her professional interests are focused on: child development in the context of the family, school, and culture; the determinants, outcomes, and processes of parenting; and the connections among family therapy and research, neurobiology, classical Adlerian psychoanalytic theory, developmental psychology, and child psychiatry. She has developed a longitudinal prevention program for infants, toddlers, and their families and authored the program manual: The Bright Beginnings Parent-Child Program. Integrating ideas from Adler, Bowlby, and Vygotsky into a family systems framework, it is designed to promote school readiness and the ongoing relational development of children and parents. Bright Beginnings has been implemented in New York City public schools, in community-based organizations, and as part of federal programs for at-risk families.

Dr. Edwards is also a Board Member for the Zero to Three New York Network, and advisory editor for Family Process. She presents nationally and inter-nationally and maintains a private practice in New York City. For AFTA, Martha has served as Secretary, Board Member, Research Committee Chair, and Program Chair for both the 2003 Annual Meeting and the 1998 Clinical-Research Conference.