Show Details

Biography

DR. BETH ERICKSON

… could tell you that she:

• completed her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 1976;
• then completed two years’ post-doctoral training in marriage and family therapy at The Family Institute, which is part of Northwestern University;
• has practiced marriage and family therapy for over three decades;
• is an executive and life coach, media host, and professional speaker;
• authored three books, the most recent of which is Marriage Isn’t For Sissies: 7 Simple Keys to Unlocking the Best Part of Your Life, as well as a dozen juried articles for professional publications;
• has developed a teleseminar series to accompany Marriage Isn’t for Sissies;
• previously was host of “Mirrors of the Soul,” on which she interviewed bestselling authors, women movers and shakers, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things;
• has been sought for interviews on NBC Chicago, Voice of America, Cosmopolitan, USA Today, Better Homes and Gardens, and The Miami Herald, among others;
• makes her home in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

But those aren’t her real qualifications for hosting a show on relationships. Dr. Beth is a proud wife, stepmother of 3, mother-in-law, grandmother of 5, great-grandmother of 1, aunt, great aunt, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, cat and dog mother, friend, coach, and mentor.

That’s good to know. Because she will be talking about the importance of our connections with people to our quality of life and own survival as individuals, and to the continuation of us as a people and even as a civilization. Along the way, she’ll offer tools for evaluating, maintaining, strengthening, and ending relationships of all kinds.

Dr. Beth is a regular columnist for Womens Online Marketing and is known as “The Best Part of Your Life” Doctor.

Archived Shows

• Relationships 101 – The Crisis of Black Marriages and Transition Times

  First, Dr. Harold Arnold, Jr., author of Marriage Rocks, discussed Black Marriage Day as one way to address the alarming situation of Blacks having the lowest marriage rate and the highest divorce rate of any group in the country. Then Barbara Penn-Atkins, also an African American, spoke with me about her book 70 Is the New 40. She urged people to make the choice to live vitally, rather than retire, giving up on maximizing the potential in the bonus years from age 70 on.

• Relationships 101 – Special Relationships

  Drs. Charles and Elizabeth Schmitz were my first guests. For 27 years, they have studied the ingredients of successful marriages on 5 continents and over 40 countries. They co-authored of Building a Love That Lasts: The 7 Surprising Secrets of Successful Marriage. Then I spoke with Mary Treacy O’Keefe, author of Thin Places, about soul friends. What makes these relationships so rare and special? How do you find them? Or do they just happen? Does it work to seek them?

• Relationships 101 – Bullies in the Workplace and in Cyberspace

  Roger Hall, author of How Do You Pet a Porcupine: Solutions to Your Prickly Communication Problems, is my first guest. He traveled the world helping companies cope with bullies and other Energy Vampires. My next guest is Danielle Tiano, author of The Temptation Series of books written for “tweens” and their parents to keep kids safe in this technology-driven world. This conversation will be of special interest to parents and other adults who work with “tweens” and teens.

• Relationships 101 – Breaking Addictions to Media, Pornography and Relationships

  People become addicts by attempting to fill a hole inside. My first guest is psychotherapist Jeff Ford who specializes in the treatment of addictions of all kinds. My second guest is Susan Elliott, author of Getting Past Your Breakup: How to Turn a Devastating Loss into the Best Thing That Ever Happened to you. We talk about how to get beyond being addicted to relationships that are harmful and the seeds for these of relationships planted in childhood.

• Relationships 101 – Children Need Both Parents

  Parents  Our children live in a completely different world than we did as children. My first guest, K. Sean Buvala, is a professional storyteller who talked with me about how fathers can develop a relationship with their children through telling them stories, and about how children are affected by their father’s absence. Then J.E. Wright, a psychotherapist and the author of The Sexualization of America’s Kids, spoke about the impact of kids being barraged by sexual images and innuendoes in the media.

• Relationships 101 – Marrying a Sports Champion

  Jim Fannin has coached sports champions and titans of industry for over three decades. We discussed their wives’ unique challenges that are inevitable even for those in happy marriages. And even they must wonder, at least part of the time, what they signed on for. Undoubtedly, many must wish their husband were an average Joe who had a “normal” job that brought him home every night, not a guy whose name is a household word. While their rewards can be great, so are their challenges.

• Relationships 101 – Getting Emotionally and Financially Naked

  Naked Dr. David Simon, Medical Director and Co-Founder of the Chopra Center for Wellness, was my first guest. We spoke about his newest book Free To Love, Free To Heal. Then I spoke with Manisha Thakor, co-author of Get Financially Naked with someone to whom you are married or are contemplating marriage. Learning how to talk about this taboo subject can prevent conflict

• Relationships 101 – All about Love

  Love My first guest was Carol Denker, author of Autumn Love: Stories and Photos of Love after Age 50. We had a touching conversation about remaining open-hearted about love whatever your age, even after experiencing life’s bumps and bruises. Then I spoke with Dr. Joni Frater and her committed partner of 7 years, Esther Lastique, regarding their new book about secrets lesbian lovers can teach married men about keeping the passion alive in their marriage.

• Relationships 101 - The Pain of Infertility and Marital Conflict

  Pamela Mahoney Tsigdinos, tried for eleven years to get pregnant and still was unable to accomplish what many people take for granted. She shared her heartache, sometimes made worse by people’s insensitive comments. Then marriage and family therapist Sharon Rivkin discussed how to help couples break their unproductive argument cycle and generate mutual understanding.

• Relationships 101 - Resolutions for a Better Life

  My first guest was Maria Malin, whose life was totally changed the instant her 11 year-old son was hit by a freight train whose whistle he didn’t hear. Tragedy has the capability to transform us if we face and deal with it and the implications of it. Then I spoke with Greg Giesen about strategies for making new year’s resolutions you will keep.

• Relationships 101 - BEGINNING ANEW

  Ryan Nickel was my first guest. He offered great information about how to protect your credit while going through a divorce so that your options remain open post-divorce. Then Zosia Ettenberg and I spoke about how her wheelchair bound life has changed dramatically since she got a service dog who now is her constant companion.

• Relationships 101 - New Year’s Celebration

  Have you turned the page on your life for the coming year? Tune in to my conversation with Trish Gallagher about how she is truly creating a new life for herself in the new year and decade. This fun conversation was followed by Ron Seaborn discussing his book The Problem with Women Is Men. I don’t agree that relationship problems are men’s fault, it was interesting.

• Relationships 101 - The Best of Relationships 101

  Last summer, I had the sheer pleasure of interviewing Academy-award nominated actor and model, Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of The Great American Novelist, Ernest.. Tune in to this animated conversation about how effects of events that happened generations above us, like her grandfather’s suicide, can have a profound impact.

• Relationships 101 - The Care and Feeding of People Coping with Alzheimer’s and Clinical Depression

  Both conditions can be daunting to face, whether you’re a patient or a caregiver. Dr. Ed Poole talked about what well-meaning people can do to help severely depressed people. Clinical social worker Lisa Snyder then talked about what it’s like to have Alzheimer’s after following 7 patients for 4 years.