Martha Heineman Pieper, Ph.D., is an author and psychotherapist who works with children and parents and serves as a consultant to family services agencies and other mental health professionals. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Radcliffe College, she earned her doctorate in Clinical Social Work at the University of Chicago. With her late husband, William J. Pieper, M.D., she wrote the bestselling parenting book "Smart Love: The Comprehensive Guide to Understanding, Regulating, and Enjoying Your Child" as well as the bestselling adult self-help book "Addicted to Unhappiness. "The second edition of "Addicted to Unhappiness: How Hidden Motives for Unhappiness Keep You from Creating the Life You Truly Want, And What You Can Do," was published in October 2019 by Smart Love Press, LLC.

In 2012 Pieper released her first children's book based on Smart Love principles, "Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream!" The book entertains children while it shows them how to understand and master their bad dreams. It also provides parents with loving and effective strategies for responding to children who wake them in the night with bad dreams. "Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream!" won the 2012 Bronze IPPY Award for Children's Picture Books, the 2012 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award for Storybooks, the Ben Franklin first prize for Children's Picture Books from the Independent Book Publishers Association, Creative Child Magazine's 2012 Book of the Year, and a Mom's Choice Gold Award for Excellence. It also made the Indie Next List, was an Award-Winning Finalist in the Children's Picture Book: Hardcover Fiction Category of the 2012 International Book Awards, won Best Book in two categories (Children's Picture Book and Children's Mind/Body/Spirit) of the 2012 USA Book News Awards, was named Best Children's Book of 2012 by Sharp Writ Awards, and was a finalist in the 2012 Foreword Book of the Year Awards in the Children's Picture Book Category.

In 2017 Smart Love Press published the children's picture book "Jilly's Terrible Temper Tantrums: And How She Outgrew Them." When Jilly, a happy little kangaroo, has a series of Terrible Temper Tantrums, her parents lovingly help her through them. Children will be very familiar with the frustrations that trigger Jilly's upset feelings and will applaud her dawning understanding that seeking help and a hug is far superior to the misery of a temper tantrum. "An impressive blend of original and entertaining storytelling with colorfully charming illustrations, 'Jilly's Terrible Temper Tantrums: And How She Outgrew Them' is very highly recommended and certain to be an enduringly popular, 'kid friendly' addition to family, preschool, elementary school, and community library picture book collections." (Midwest Book Review). The book won a Gold Mom's Choice Award, Purple Dragonfly Award, NAPPA award, and a Feathered Quill Award.

In 2024 Pieper along with co-author Kelly Perez, Director of the Smart Love Preschool are publishing a manual for preschool and kindergarten teachers, "The Happiest Preschool: A Manual for Teachers." All of the strategies presented in this manual will increase teachers’ enjoyment and effectiveness and enrich a preschool, regardless of its affiliation. Increasingly progressive educators are focusing on play-based learning and social-emotional development, but "The Happiest Preschool: A Manual for Teachers" is unique in providing a comprehensive and thorough discussion of this focus and illustrating all precepts with teachable examples. In addition, there are sections on understanding and helping children with the feelings underlying fantasy play; on the importance of partnering with parents; and on informed ways of helping children who are under emotional stress. Moreover, the manual is an invaluable asset for parents trying to choose a preschool or kindergarten for their child.

Martha Heineman Pieper’s professional experience and path-breaking research into the causes and effects of children’s inner happiness or unhappiness form the guiding principle for Smart Love Family Services, a not-for-profit agency in Chicago that provides psychotherapy services, parent education, and toddler and preschool programs. Smart Love Family Services also offers free webinars on topics important for parents. Dr. Pieper also co-wrote and co-developed the comprehensive psychology, Intrapsychic Humanism, which is the basis and inspiration for the non-profit Inner Humanism Society, which is dedicated to research and education on Inner Humanism, the psychotherapy developed by Pieper and her late husband, William J. Pieper. The original and groundbreaking psychology of "Intrapsychic Humanism is explicated in Intrapsychic Humanism: An Introduction to a Comprehensive Psychology and Philosophy of Mind"(Falcon II Press, 1990). Articles and talks by Dr. Pieper can be found on her website.