In 1963, Pieper received a master's degree in English and American literature from the University of Chicago and then taught for two years at Northeastern University in Chicago. After finishing her course work for a Ph.D. in English, she taught for two more years at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Ultimately, Pieper entered the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. The combination of clinical work and the excitement of trying to re-conceptualize and integrate theories of human development, psychopathology, and clinical practice offered her the career enjoyment she had been seeking. She graduated with a master's degree in 1974 and a Ph.D. in 1979.
He completed residencies in adult psychiatry at the University of Illinois Neuropsychiatric Institute in Chicago and in child and adolescent psychiatry at the Institute for Juvenile Research in Chicago. In 1975 he graduated from the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis with certificates in child and adult psychoanalysis. He has taught in the Institute for Psychoanalysis's adult and child psychotherapy programs and at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.
The Pieper also successfully applied the therapeutic principles of intrapsychic humanism in a demonstration program with adolescents considered "untreatable" by Illinois Department of Child and Family Services. Eventually, they explicated intrapsychic humanism in an academic book published in 1990. SMART LOVE, published by Harvard Common Press in April 1999, is the layperson's guide to the parenting and child development components of intrapsychic humanism.
In addition to intrapsychic humanism and its offshoots, Martha Pieper's professional publications include a number of articles on philosophy of research. She is considered to have had a transforming effect on how the field of social work views research. Her contribution is detailed in a book and, along with her work on intrapsychic humanism, led to an invitation to serve on the editorial boards of Smith College Studies in Social Work and of Social Work, a journal of the National Association of Social Workers. William Pieper's other publications deal with the immune system, the effect of cancer on the endocrine system, and the effects of cesarean sections on a child's subsequent development.
The Piepers are finding that intrapsychic humanism is gaining greater acceptance as time goes by. Indicators include its adoption by a growing number of professionals, and numerous courses on intrapsychic humanism in universities. Papers describing clinical applications of intrapsychic humanism have been accepted by juried mainstream publications. Four or five ongoing intrapsychic humanism study groups meet regularly. The therapeutic principles of intrapsychic humanism are being applied successfully in setting as diverse as schools, cancer treatment centers, children's agencies, and private practice setting.
The Pieper co-authored, "It's Not Tough, It's Tender Love," an article contrasting intrapsychic humanism and "tough love" which was published in Chicago Medicine and reprinted in Child Welfare.
Since 1997, they have been the emotional health and well-being experts on BabyCenter.com and since 2000 they have had a parenting column in Chicago Parent magazine. Addicted to Unhappiness, published by McGraw Hill, is their third book. The Piepers were married in 1981 and have a blended family of five children.
