About the Author
Dr. Lynn Brallier continues her research and writing after spending much of her life as an evidence-based clinical scholar, teaching healthcare professionals and serving as Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She has always encouraged healthcare professionals to think holistically in both depth and breadth, remain dedicated to excellence in patient-centered care, and create new and effective solutions for the care of people with serious health challenges such as PND. For many years, Dr. Brallier has addressed the PND experiences of her patients, family, friends, and acquaintances.
In 1977, as a young advanced-practice nurse and psychotherapist, she founded the Stress & Health Management Center on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, one of the earliest evidence-based holistic health clinics in the US. Her clinical approaches at the Center demonstrated that treatment outcomes could be significantly enhanced by addressing every aspect of a patient’s life that was helping or harming their health. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross became her mentor and friend as she was treating many people terminally ill with AIDS and cancer, focusing on improving the quality of each patient’s process of dying. Urging compassionate patient-centered care for any age group was a prominent theme of Dr. Brallier’s clinical work, teaching, and while serving as national chair of a clinical practice ethics committee. She became well-known for her kindness, empathy, and healing presence. In 1982 she was asked to write Successfully Managing Stress, the first comprehensive textbook on stress management for health professionals and contributed chapters to others’ books and journals. From her experience of integrating hypnosis and biofeedback therapy into her clinical practice, she produced and recorded the first biofeedback-validated audio program, Suggestions for General Relaxation. It received positive media attention for its effectiveness. She was regularly invited to speak to national and international audiences about her philosophy of clinical practice and her innovative methodologies.
Dr. Brallier is deeply appreciative of the other researchers she contacted for comments, many of whom have devoted their professional lives to improving care for those suffering from PND. She is also grateful for the many health professionals, health consultants, friends, family, and lay readers who contributed their comments, experiences, ideas, and support to this educational and activist endeavor. Special thanks go to Patricia Wilson Long and Shari Delaney who worked closely with Dr. Brallier as contributors and editors.
Though Dr. Brallier can be reached at drhealthresearch@verizon.net, she has returned to her full-time endeavor of writing her book on brain health. Ethically, since she is no longer in clinical practice, Dr. Brallier cannot offer clinical opinions or guidance, but hopes that many instructions for seeking more specific PND information will prove helpful in answering your questions. She extends her best wishes for the most positive outcome possible to each of you and your care partners if surgery proves to be the best option possible.