Dr LilyBree Brannigan
Dr. LilyBree Brannigan is an Appalachian native and U.S. Army veteran still living within the mental war zone of a co-morbid diagnosis of C-PTSD and Bipolar Disorder.
Assisted by her loyal service dog and battle buddy, Herbie, Lily soldiers on as she demonstrates to others the strength and resiliency of complex trauma survivors and how we, as a society, can lower their numbers through education and appropriate community resources.
IDA Ambassador – Florida
Dr. LilyBree Brannigan received her undergraduate education while still on active duty from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA and the University of Hawaii, Manoa, in Honolulu, HI. She then attended Cornell University, obtaining a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and her PhD in Comparative Literature.
Lily is a published poet and submits annually to the Veteran’s Creative Arts Festival. She is also an award-winning flash fiction author and a poet laureate to the late Marilyn Monroe. Lily and Herbie are currently utilizing their story-telling skills in the production of a series of fairy tales, casting the characters of their lives as a host of heroes and villains in a whimsical adventure!
Lily is also a Masters Competitor with the Pole Sport Organization, competing at both the regional and national levels. She is known for both her sassy aerial antics as well as inspirational dramatic performances. “Puppies, poles, & poetry,” she laughs, when anyone asks how on Earth she makes it through the day.
I am almost 50 years old, and I come from an exceedingly abusive past. My mouth has gotten me into more trouble than you can possibly imagine, with so many seeking and failing to silence my voice. My number one goal in life has always been to hand a megaphone to any young woman I have ever met who was crouching in fear. Now IDA just handed me a megaphone… what do you say to that? You say, thank you. You say, I won’t let you down. And then you say to the world, “My disability may be invisible, but I am not inaudible!”
