Erikson, Tomlin, and Swain
Michelle Gilliland
Northern Kentucky University
Nursing Theory
NRP 434
Cindy Foster
February 07, 2013

Erickson, Tomlin, and Swain
The Modeling and Role Modeling Theory of nursing was created by Helen C. Erickson, along with Evelyn M. Tomlin and Mary Ann P. Swain. It was first published in their book, Modeling and Role Modeling: A Theory and Paradigm for Nursing, which was published in 1983. (Nursing Theory, 2011).
Helen Lorraine (Cook) Erickson was born in 1936. On her marriage to Lance Erickson in 1957, the psychiatrist Milton Erickson became her father-in-law; he was a major influence on her nursing career and pivotal to the development of her ideas, especially the concept of MRM. In addition to her father-in-law’s instrumentality, Erickson drew on the ideas and works of a number of esteemed psychologists, namely: Piaget, Maslow, Selye and Lazarus (Valle, 2011).
Educational Background * 1957 - Graduated Saginaw General Hospital * 1974 - BSN; University of Michigan * 1976 - MSN Psychiatric Nursing; University of Michigan * 1984 - Doctorate in Educational Psychology; University of Michigan
Clinical Background * ER and Medical - Surgical Nursing * Director of Health Services; San German, Puerto Rico * Independent Psychiatric Nurse Consultant
In the intervening years she has published numerous articles and research papers but is best known for the influential book, Modeling and Role Modeling: A Theory and Paradigm, which was co-written with Evelyn M. Tomlin and Mary Ann P. Swain and published in 1983. Two years later, in 1985, Erickson’s far-reaching theoretical contribution was the mobilizing force behind the formation of The Society for the Advancement of Modeling and Role-Modeling at the University of Michigan, a society that remains extant (Valle, 2011).
While earning her bachelor’s