Maureen Pratt is an award-winning playwright, journalist and author, as well as a sought-after speaker and patient advocate. Her new book, just out in Spring 2016, is Don’t Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media), a faith-filled, very personal work that tackles important and timely issues of stress managemens and emotional and spiritual resilience in the face of any of life’s inevitable crises. Don’t Panic!… is also the first of her books that Maureen has narrated for the audio book format.

Her syndicated column, “Living Well,” is in distribution through Catholic News Service and has appeared in publications in the United States and abroad. In 2014, it won second place in the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada’s Catholic Press Awards for “Best Regular Column – Culture, the Arts and Leisure.”

Maureen’s popular blog, “Good Days…Bad Days with Maureen Pratt” appears on the multi-faith website Beliefnet.com, and her many articles, also on Beliefnet, focus on encouraging people of faith at any step along their spiritual journey.

Her articles have appeared in Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, Guideposts, the Los Angeles Times, Arthritis Today Magazine, Lupus Now Magazine, National Employment Business Weekly, and other national and regional publications. Her play, “In Good Faith,” won the Best Play, State of Maryland Award, and her manuscript, “Dream Come True,” won the 1999 Molly Best Inspirational Award.

Maureen’s book, PEACE IN THE STORM: MEDITATIONS ON CHRONIC PAIN AND ILLNESS (Doubleday, April 2005); has been approved by the American Association of Christian Counselors and received the Seal of Approval from the Lupus Foundation of America for use in patient education.It is also included on the Methodist Women’s Reading List and is used as a guide for patient counseling sessions and in chaplaincy and Christian counseling offices throughout the United States, as well as faith-based chronic illness and pain patient support groups.

TAKING CHARGE OF LUPUS: HOW TO MANAGE THE DISEASE AND MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR LIFE (co-authored with David Hallegua, M.D.) has been awarded the Seal of Approval by the Lupus Foundation of America.

THE FIRST YEAR-HYPOTHYROIDISM, has been approved for patient education by the Thyroid Foundation of America.

Her book, BEYOND PAIN: JOB, JESUS, AND JOY (Twenty-Third Publications), is in use in patient support groups and other venues and is also on the Lupus Foundation of America’s Recommended Reading List.

Her next book will be DON’T PANIC!: HOW TO KEEP GOING WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH (Franciscan Media), to arrive in Spring 2016.

Maureen and her work have been featured on the Hallmark Channel’s program, “New Morning,” and in The National Catholic Reporter, The Tidings, Catholic News Service, and Guideposts Magazine. She has been interviewed on national and regional radio programs, including Relevant Radio, NEON Fish, The Bev Smith Show, American Catholic Radio, and Tu Companero Catolico. She also-co-produced and hosted 11 episodes of the hour-long program, “Peace in the Storm,” which was aired on Loma Linda Broadcasting Networks International in more than 275 countries for nearly two years.

As a lupus and hypothyroid patient, Maureen has joined with several regional and national organizations to raise awareness of the diseases and funding for research. She has served as an Ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation, Southern California Chapter, and was a founding member of Lupus LA.

When her health permits, she has also been a guest speaker at events, symposia and medical conferences sponsored by the Lupus Foundation of Illinois, Lupus Foundation Kansas Chapter, and the Lupus Support Network, among others. In 2005, Maureen was keynote speaker at DePaul University’s first annual Conference on Chronic Illness and Post-Secondary Education, and spoke on “Spirituality and Living with Chronic Pain and Illness” at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. She also served on the panel at the LFA’s Lupus Public Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. Appearances in 2006 included the Crystal Cathedral’s International Conference on Care and Kindness, and the Association of Professional Chaplain’s national conference.

Recently, Maureen has developed a church-focused workshop on spirituality and living with chronic pain and illness. Her first presentation was co-sponsored by Saint Martin of Tours Parish and Pauline Books and Media. She has also presented her programs several regional Catholic religious education congresses in Southern California

A graduate of Georgetown University, Maureen speaks French and Spanish. For 13 years, she conducted and sang with an African American gospel choir in Los Angeles, and she has also been a civilian musician with the U.S. Army and a park tech for the National Park Service. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater Arts from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Division of Theater, Film, and Television, and is a member of the Author’s Guild, Catholic Press Association, and past member of the Georgetown University Alumni Interviewing Committee.

To learn more visit: MaureenPratt.com.