Emily Edlynn earned her bachelor's degree from Smith College and worked with children and families in child welfare. She then studied at Loyola University in Chicago and earned her doctorate in clinical psychology with a focus on child and adolescent psychology. Her training also included a one-year internship at Stanford University and a postdoctoral program in the Department of Psycho-Oncology at Children's Hospital of Orange County.

After completing her training, Emily worked as a clinical psychologist, researcher, and educator at two major medical research centers: Children's Hospital Los Angeles and Children's Hospital Colorado. She served as clinical director at both (at CHLA in pediatric palliative care; at CHCO in a day care program) and as an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado at Denver.

She has published peer-reviewed articles in a variety of medical, psychological, and psychiatric journals, presented at numerous national conferences, developed curricula for graduate and medical students, served as a reviewer for several articles in high-profile journals, and served as a journal associate editor for one year. Although she is no longer involved in medical research, she works in private practice as a therapist for children, adolescents, families, and adults.

In 2017, Emily launched the blog The Art and Science of Mom . Since 2019, she has written a weekly advice column for Parents.com, “Ask Your Mom.” Thanks to her writing, Emily has become an expert who is regularly consulted by national publications such as Good Housekeeping, HuffPost Parents, Today.com, BBC.com, and Your Teen Magazine . Her articles in The Washington Post and Scary Mommy are examples of her challenging modern assumptions about parenting: “You Yelled at Your Kids? Here's Why You Shouldn't Be Ashamed,” “Why We're Skipping Extracurricular Activities!”, “Lazy Parenting Isn't Lazy.”

As a mother, Emily knows firsthand that science and numbers don't always help with everyday parenting. As a writer, she works to blend the sum of those parts into a whole to create better parenting for everyone.

Emily currently lives in Oak Park, Illinois, on the outskirts of Chicago. She has an encouraging partner, three charming and stubborn children, and two shelter dogs who are still bonding.