About the Author

Lee-Anne Gray, PsyD, is a psychologist, educator, and author. She is certified in EMDR, a trauma treatment, as well as a national speaker in self-compassion, mindful awareness, LGBTQ+ youth, gender, sexuality, assessment, special education, and gifted individuals. She is the president and CEO of The Connect Group, offering innovative professional development seminars in empathy, compassion cultivation, Design Thinking, and self-compassion. Dr. Gray is formerly an instructor of Psychology of Gender in the Departments of Psychology/Women’s Studies at UCLA, and has served the LGBTQ+ community as an ally and through her private practice. She was a forensic expert for the Public Defender of Orange County when LGBTQ+ psychological evaluations were needed. Prior to this, Dr. Gray was the supervising psychologist at the largest special education nonprofit organization in the nation.

In 2012, she curated and organized TEDxStudioCityED with the theme of Blending Self-Regulation, Technology, and Education. She is also a contributing author to Pedagogies of Kindness and Respect: On the Lives and Education of Children (Peter Lang, 2015) in which she discusses Educational Trauma and Empathic Education for a Compassionate Nation (EECN.) Along with young people as equal participants, Dr. Gray co-designed EECN to promote co-learning and mitigate Educational Trauma. She is the author of Self-Compassion for Teens: 129 Activities & Practices and Self-Compassion and Mindfulness for Teens Card Deck.