Judith Simon Prager is a therapist with a Ph.D. in psychology. She is an award-winning instructor of fiction and narrative non-fiction in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program with her husband, the poet Harry Youtt. She lectures to medical personnel and first responders across the United States and around the world in the protocol she and Judith Acosta co-developed, Verbal First Aid.™ She has trained those who work with refugees from war-torn countries suffering from trauma. Their book, The Worst Is Over: What To Say When Every Moment Counts, has been called “the ‘Bible’ for crisis communication” by The International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. She trains 911 dispatchers and teachers in words to help prevent or assuage trauma, including lockdown drills. Her latest book, What the Dolphin Said, is a novel based on her true experience with dolphins and children with disabilities.