Dr. Brené Brown is a writer, researcher, and educator. She is a member of the research faculty at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work where she has spent the past ten years studying connection - specifically authenticity, belonging, and shame, and the affect these powerful emotions have on the way we live, love, parent, work and build relationships.

Dr. Brown teaches graduate courses on shame and empathy, global justice, qualitative research, and womens issues. She has won numerous teaching awards, including the Colleges Outstanding Faculty Award. In 2008, Brené was named Behavioral Health Scholar-in-Residence at the Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston. She also serves on the working board of The Nobel Womens Initiative - a peace and justice initiative established in 2006 by six Nobel Peace Laureates to help strengthen work being done in support of womens rights around the world.

Brené is the author of I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isnt): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (Gotham, 2007). She is also the author of Connections, a psycho-educational shame resilience curriculum that is being facilitated across the nation by mental health and addiction professionals. Dr. Browns work has been featured on PBS and the Oprah and Friends Radio Network, and has appeared in Self Magazine, Elle Magazine and many national newspapers. She is also a frequent guest on radio shows across the US.

Her latest work focuses on the importance of nurturing authenticity, love and belonging, and a resilient spirit in our families, schools, and communities.

Brené lives in Houston with her husband, Steve, and their two young children, Ellen and Charlie.

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