Veterans, Trauma & Treatment Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Kevin Berry, MD, the vice president for Military Medical Research at Samueli Institute, has served 30 years with the Navy including leadership positions at Naval Medical Center San Diego and Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical.
Dawson Church, PhD, is founder of Soul Medicine Institute, which researches and teaches emerging psychological and medical techniques, such as EFT, that can yield quick and lasting relief. He is author of many books, including The Genie in Your Genes and Soul Medicine; editor of Energy Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal; and director of the Iraq Vets Stress Project.
Tracy Gaudet, MD, is the director of the Veterans Affairs’ (VA) new Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. She has become widely recognized as a leader in the emerging field of integrative medicine through her work and contributions to numerous journals, publications, and television programs.
Peter A. Levine, PhD, is the originator and developer of Somatic Experiencing® and the director of The Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute, a nonprofit, educational, and research organization focusing on worldwide healing and prevention of trauma. He is also the founder of the Foundation for Human Enrichment in Boulder, Colorado, which now has a membership of 5,000 Somatic Experiencing® training practitioners worldwide.
Gabor Maté, MD, is a renowned physician and expert on mind-body wellness. An acclaimed public speaker, he was in family practice for two decades, served for years as medical coordinator of the palliative care unit at Vancouver Hospital, and is author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction.
Maj. (fmr) Nisha Money, MD, is the director of the Global Healing Initiatives Institute. She is a physician specialized in a global health and integrative medicine and uses mind-body-spirit therapeutics to help with trauma-related problems.
Frank Ochberg, MD, pioneering psychiatrist in trauma science and editor of the first text on the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is a cofounder of modern psychotraumatology and served on the committee that first defined PTSD.
Col. Richard P. Petri, MD, is chief of Physical Medicine and Integrative Health Services at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss, Texas. When it opened in 2004, the Center for Integrative Medicine was the first physical health and integrative medicine clinic in the Department of Defense.
Capt. (fmr) Elizabeth A. Stanley, PhD, professor of security studies at Georgetown University and founder of the Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT), the first mindfulness-based training program to have its beneficial effects with military populations documented in peer-reviewed scientific journals Training Institute. The ninth-generation in her family to serve in the U.S. Army, Stanley served as a military intelligence officer during the 1990s in Korea, Germany, and the Balkans.
Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton, MD, was the highest ranking psychiatrist in the United States Army and is the former director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. She has served as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
Concurrent Workshop Presenters
David Feinstein, PhD, a clinical psychologist, has served on the faculties of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Antioch College. He has contributed seminal journal articles on innovative psychotherapeutic approaches and is author of seven books, including The Promise of Energy Psychology, Rituals for Living and Dying, and Personal Mythology.
Diana Fried, MAc, LAc, founder and executive director of Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB)®, has worked in disasters and underserved communities doing community acupuncture healing, along with supervising disaster relief work, in locations worldwide. She fostered AWB's Military Stress Recovery Project, establishing free clinics serving active duty military, veterans, and their families.
E.C. Hurley, PhD, is a licensed clinician and a trainer in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) and the United States Army Medical Department (AMEDD). Working with soldiers and veterans since he enlisted in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, he retired with the rank of colonel after 33 years of service.
Roger Jahnke, OMD, has practiced Chinese medicine clinically for more than 25 years. Author of two best-selling books, The Healer Within and The Healing Promise of Qi, he is director of the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi.
David J. Kearney, MD, is a staff physician at Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health-Care System and associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He offers highly regarded 8-week programs for veterans at the Seattle Veterans Administration Medical Center, based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
Charles R. Kennedy, PhD, has served as staff clinician and program director in the Stratton Veterans Administration Medical Center Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Program for the past 23 years. Recently, he was invited as a special guest to appear on Public Health Live, the monthly webinar produced and distributed by the New York State Public Health Department.
Laurie Leitch, PhD, is a psychologist and cofounder of the Trauma Resource Institute based in Claremont, California. She has worked with victims of trauma and natural disasters in Thailand, China, Rwanda, and post-9/11 New York City.
Col. (ret) Pat Lillis, MD, MHA, RYT, cofounder of Warriors at Ease, has a 32-year military career, including her oncology practice and involvement with combat field hospitals in Kosovo and Iraq.
Susan Lynch, JD, E-RYT, serves as a Major in the United States Army Reserve in the Judge Advocate General Corps and is executive director of There & Back Again, a nonprofit reintegration support services program for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance, she also serves on the Massachusetts Women Veterans’ Network, Operation Homefront, Black Lotus Yoga Project, and is the owner of Charlestown Yoga in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Michael Marks, PhD, is the lead psychologist, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) outpatient clinic team leader, and evidence-based practices coordinator at the Southern Arizona Veterans Administration Healthcare System. An associate clinical professor at the University of Arizona, he is also involved in the Supportive Education for Returning Veterans (SERV) program.
Annie Okerlin, RYT, is a certified yoga instructor and owner and president of Yogani Studio in Tampa, Florida. She is founder and director of the therapeutic yoga program Exalted Warrior Foundation.
Claude AnShin Thomas received numerous awards, including the Purple Heart, for his service in the Vietnam War. After struggling with re-entry into society, Thomas studied mindfulness meditation with Thich Nhat Hanh. He was ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk in the Japanese Soto Zen Tradition by Baisen Tetsugen Roshi. He is author of At Hell's Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace, and is founder of the Zaltho Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes nonviolence and change.
Teachers are subject to change.