Authors

Janelle Breese Biagioni

An author, international speaker and long-standing advocate for families and survivors of brain injury, Janelle Breese Biagioni knows first hand the stress and challenges of trying to be a parent to two children while simultaneously being a wife and primary caregiver to a husband with significant cognitive, behavioral and emotional challenges following a traumatic brain injury. Her personal experience led her to earn a Certificate in Death and Grief Studies at the Center for Loss and Life Transition in conjunction with Colorado State University. She speaks and writes frequently on bereavement and coping strategies for families affected by catastrophic injury with workshops and presentations on grief and loss at conferences and on television and radio.

Dianne Kane, DSW, CGP

A clinical social worker, Dianne Kane has been involved in the development and delivery of employee assistance and trauma intervention services to uniformed personnel in the New York City area since 1994. She is currently assistant director of the counseling unit serving the Fire Department of New York City and, in that capacity, has been instrumental in the post-9/11 recovery effort for a workforce of over 13,000 personnel. She and Suzanne Phillips worked with over 400 FDNY couples assisting in their recovery from trauma. Kane has been on the faculty of Hunter College School of Social Work since 1988. She is coauthor of FDNY Crisis Counseling: Innovative Response to Firefighters, Families, and Communities.

Marilyn Lash, M.S.W.

She is a Founding Partner and President at Lash and Associates Publishing/Training, Inc. in Wake Forest, NC. Author of many publications on the psychosocial impact of brain injury, her writing and training emphasize coping strategies for families and practical interventions by professionals and educators in hospitals, rehabilitation, schools and community programs. Ms. Lash is on various national task forces on brain injury and editorial boards of rehabilitation journals. She is the Past Chair of the Brain Injury Association of North Carolina and current Chair of the North Carolina Statewide Advisory Council on Traumatic Brain Injury.

Suzanne B. Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP

As a psychologist, Suzanne Phillips has worked with couples and with trauma for over twenty-five years. She is adjunct professor in the clinical doctoral program of Long Island University and is on the faculty of the postdoctoral programs of the Derner Institute of Adelphi University, NY, and the Suffolk Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, NY. She has published in the trauma field, trained professionals, and provided direct service to help civilians and uniformed responders cope with trauma. She and Dianne Kane created Couples Connection, a program used to help more than 400 firefighter couples recover after 9/11. She is co-editor of Public Mental Health Service Delivery Protocols: Group Interventions for Disaster Preparedness and Response. She is also in private practice in Northport, NY.

Soili Poijula, Ph.D.

She is a clinical psychologist and licensed psychotherapist at Oy Synolon Ltd., Center for Trauma Psychology in Finland. She has been a member of the Finnish Red Cross Catastrophe Group and Finland’s Ministry of Health Advisory Board.

Nadia Webb, Ph.D.

As a practicing neuropsychologist, college professor, Dr. Webb, she assesses and intervenes with neurologically impaired, learning disabled and gifted youth. In addition to teaching at a university, Dr. Webb has created in-service training programs, designed systems for coordinating care across agencies, and served on several state and national boards addressing the needs of children. Her work has received honors from the American Medical Association, the Department of Defense, and a personal citation by Governor Jane Hull of Arizona.

She treats trauma survivors in private practice at the Trauma Recovery Education and Counseling Center in Warrenton, VA. She also specialized in crisis intervention as a school social worker. Dr. Williams is well known in US and international trauma circles as an author, researcher, lecturer, and social policy advisor. She is the past-president of the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists.