Dr. Denyse Ray THE HEROINE AMIDST OUR NATION The day after 9/11 Dr. Denyse Ray, a clinical first responder, took a train into New York City at ground zero. What she saw was an absolute horror. She realized her vision was not only blurred by her tears, but by the debris flying around. Rubble mixed with, as difficult it is to say, fragments of the souls we lost the day before. Dr. Ray could not breathe and she knew she would have to keep her mask on for a prolonged period of time. She also knew the masks being handed out were not made of cotton so bacteria would build up inside the mask and on her face. She decided to remove her jacket and rip out the inner lining to create a makeshift mask for herself as she helped any and all she could. This is who Dr. Ray is. An African-American woman standing on the rubble that was once the Twin Towers with her ‘new mask,’ ready to help. As always Any And All. And she is so much more. After serving more than two decades as a clinical first responder, and a private practice practitioner, dedicating her career to helping victims of natural disasters, school shootings, and terroristic attacks remove their ‘emotional mask,’ Denyse Ray, PhD, retooled her skills to found Lady Ease Limited as its President and CEO. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Ray has built Lady Ease from the suite of her home. She empathetically set her priorities and designed a washable, re-usable fashion face mask for women, men, and children using Eco-friendly fabrics. Her clients range from the individual traveler, to companies who customize their masks with their logo, to the fashion conscience user that won’t settle for anything less than their rhinestone “Bling” line. She has applied many of the same practices and principles to her approach of preparing her clients for not if, but when a disaster strikes to be prepared. As a first responder she understands that during a disaster, emergency responders address the most critical needs and may not even be able to get to an area until it is deemed safe. While they work on behalf of the entire community, 4 • HOLLYWOOD MONTHLY
the family also has a responsibility to ensure their well- being during the time of crisis. In her consultant work, she regularly provides workshop sand seminars. Dr. Ray has provided many social service agencies with in-depth direction and understanding as they acquire skills to better serve their communities. Her trauma curriculum continues to be utilized in schools of social work and her - “Surviving Work Place Trauma “training serves as a preventive resource in many work places throughout the United States. She is the author of “The Pain Didn’t Start Here: Trauma and Violence in the African American Community.” Her current work Mirroring Images: Native Hawaiians Traumatic Journey, and Soul Murder; Emotional Execution scheduled for e–book release in late spring of 2021. Dr. Ray has authored and edited many abstracts and white papers on the affect and treatment of psychological trauma including the 16th United States Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher’s Mental Health: Culture Race and Ethnicity.
