Bridgepoint Psychology Center

Dr. Brand is Emerita Psychology Professor at Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She has over 30 years of experience in researching, assessing, and treating the impact of psychological trauma with a specialization in dissociation. Dr. Brand has been honored with the endowed Martha E. Mitten Professorship as well as teaching, research and clinical awards including the Outstanding Contribution to the Science of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation. Dr. Brand has served on national and international task forces that developed guidelines for the assessment and treatment of trauma-related disorders. She has published over 130 peer reviewed papers and three research-based books about assessing and treating dissociation, The Concise Guide to Assessing and Treating Trauma-Related Dissociation, Finding Solid Ground: Overcoming Obstacles in Trauma Treatment and The Finding Solid Ground Program Workbook. Dr. Brand is the Principal Investigator on the largest treatment outcome studies to date of dissociative disorders (the TOP DD studies). She has delivered hundreds of clinical and research presentations at national and international conferences. In addition to treating patients in her private practice, Dr. Brand serves as a forensic expert in trauma-related cases including state, federal and capital cases and an international Supreme Court case.

Nicholas A. Pierorazio, M.A., is a Ph.D. student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) in Boston, Massachusetts. He has had years of research experience in psychological trauma, dissociation, and their treatment. He has extended lines of research with three main foci: (1) experiences of psychological trauma and their sequelae (e.g., dissociation), (2) the assessment and treatment of trauma and dissociation, and (3) psychotherapy process and outcome. He primarily uses qualitative and mixed methods approaches to investigate these areas. He holds a scientist-practitioner-activist lens in his work. He previously worked as a mental health worker at Sheppard Pratt Health System’s Trauma Disorders Program, serving on an interdisciplinary team on a specialized inpatient unit. He also has experience providing psychotherapy in university counseling center and private practice settings. He has lectured in graduate courses and presented internationally on special topics related to trauma and dissociation. He has been awarded the International Society of the Study of Trauma and Dissociation’s (ISSTD) Outstanding Student Award, ISSTD’s Pierre Janet Writing Award, and UMass Boston’s Clinical Psychology Master’s Thesis Book Award.