Elizabeth A. Stanley

Elizabeth A. Stanley, PhDis an associate professor of security studies at Georgetown University and the founder of the Mind Fitness Training Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching skills for enhancing performance and building resilience to stress.

She served in Asia and Europe during the 1990s as a U.S. Army military intelligence officer, leaving service with the rank of Captain. Drawing on her military experience, research expertise, and mindfulness training, she created Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT)® and has taught it to military troops and civilians in high-stress occupations. 

MMFT is the first mindfulness-based training program to have its beneficial effects with military populations documented in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Elizabeth Stanley has extensive experience with mind fitness techniques and has training in body-based trauma therapies, including Somatic Experiencing®. Stanley has spoken and published widely on a variety of topics related to mind fitness, resilience, military effectiveness and innovation, and national security.