Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. Brené spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and empathy, and is now using that work to explore a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness. She poses the questions:
How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?
Brené is a nationally renown speaker and has won numerous teaching awards, including the College’s Outstanding Faculty Award. Her work has been featured on PBS, NPR, CNN, and was the topic of two 2010 TEDx talks (Houston and Kansas City).
Brené is the author of The Gifts of Imperfection: Letting Go of Who We Think We Should Be and Embracing Who We Are (Hazelden, 2010) and I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (Penguin/Gotham, 2007). Her next book, Wholehearted: Spiritual Adventures in Falling Apart, Growing Up, and Finding Joy will be released in 2011. She is also the author of Connections, a psychoeducational shame resilience curriculum that is being facilitated across the nation by mental health and addiction professionals.
Brené’s current research focuses on authentic leadership and wholeheartedness in families, schools, and organizations.
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