Author Bios

Dr. Michael Brody is a Board Certified practicing adult and child psychiatrist. He is Chair of the Media Committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Liaison to The American Academy of Pediatrics, Public Education Council, and Adjunct Professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, where he teaches a course on Perspectives in Popular Culture. He is also chair of the Celebrity Section of The Popular Culture Association. He had been one of the key advocates in the creation of the Children’s Television Section of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, The Children’s TV Ratings, and COPPA (Children’s Online privacy and Protection Act) .Until 2004, he was the CEO of Psychiatric Center, the largest provider of mental health services to the chronically ill in the District of Columbia. He has published widely .Most recently, he has written chapters on Toys for The St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, and Batman and Trauma in the recently published Using Superheroes in Counseling and Play Therapy as well Barbie versus Mr. Potato Head in Magical Moments of Change: How Psychotherapy Turns Kids Around.

Dr. Lawrence Rubin is Professor of Counselor Education at St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida, as well a Licensed Psychologist,  Mental Health Counselor and Registered Play Therapist who specializes in working with children, teens and their families and is the immediate past president of the Florida Association for Play Therapy.  A prolific writer, Dr. Rubin's first volume, "Psychotropic Drugs and Popular Culture: Essays on Medicine, Mental Health and the Media" won the 2006 Ray and Pat Browne Award of the Popular Culture Association, and his current popular culture title, "Food for thought: Essays on Eating and Culture" has gained increasing recognition.  Dr. Rubin has also published clinical volumes at the intersection of popular culture and psychology, entitled "Using Superheroes in Counseling and Play Therapy" and "Popular Culture in Counseling, Psychotherapy and Play-based Interventions." With a passion for collecting and consuming everything popular, Dr. Rubin has written extensively on superheroes, has authored several articles and a book on paint by number art as well as lent part of his collection to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and regularly incorporates the messages in popular culture into his undergraduate and graduate teaching.