The TOP DD Network Study Research Team
Network RCT Principal Investigator: Bethany Brand, Ph.D., from Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland. Co-Principal Investigator: Hygge Schielke, Ph.D., from Homewood Health Centre in Guelph, Ontario. Senior Research Consultants: Frank Putnam, M.D. (University of North Carolina and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center); Richard Loewenstein, M.D. (University of Maryland Medical School). North American Research Consultants: Ruth Lanius, M.D., Ph.D. and Paul Frewen, Ph.D. (University of Western Ontario); Amie Myrick, L.C.P.C. (Family & Children’s Services of Central Maryland); Clare Pain MD, MSc., FRCPC and Catherine Classen, Ph.D. (University of Toronto); Kathy Steele, M.N., C.S., Metropolitan Counseling Services. European Research Consultants: Suzette Boon, Ph.D., private practice, the Netherlands; Ellen Jepsen, M.D., Ph.D., Research Institute at Modum Bad Psychiatric Center, Norway.Bethany Brand, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
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Bethany Brand, Ph.D. specializes in the assessment and treatment of trauma related disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative disorders. She has over 25 years of clinical experience, including training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, George Washington University Hospital, and at Sheppard Pratt Health System’s Trauma Disorders program. Currently she is a Professor of Psychology at Towson University where she is the Director of the Clinical Psychology Area of Focus program. Dr. Brand conducts research on the assessment and treatment of trauma related disorders.
She began her career in trauma-related work as a research assistant with Frank Putnam in 1988. She completed a two-year trauma disorders postdoctoral fellowship at Sheppard Pratt Health Systems, after which she was an attending psychologist within the Trauma Disorders program.
Dr. Brand is the primary investigator for the Treatment of Patients with Dissociative Disorders (TOP DD) study series. This series has included a naturalistic study of treatment outcome in 292 DD cases from around the world (“the naturalistic treatment study”). The TOP DD naturalistic treatment study is the largest and only international treatment outcome study of dissociative disorders to date, and has resulted in multiple publications and is regarded as a seminal study in the field of complex trauma.
Dr. Brand has been awarded numerous research, clinical, writing, and teaching awards including the Morton Prince Award for outstanding cumulative contributions to research in the area of dissociative disorders, the Cornelia B. Wilbur Award for outstanding clinical contribution to the treatment of dissociative disorders, the Pierre Janet Award for the most important publication in the field of dissociative disorders in 2012, and the Maryland Psychology Teacher of the Year.
Dr. Brand has served on several national task forces that developed guidelines for the assessment and treatment of trauma-related disorders. She has delivered clinical and research presentations in Germany, Norway, Turkey, Canada, and throughout the United States, and is sought after for media interviews, including by National Public Radio’s show, Science Friday. Dr. Brand maintains a private practice in Towson, Maryland.