Episode 308: The Power of Trust. Shauna Springer

Shauna Springer, Ph.D., is the Senior Director of Suicide Prevention and Postvention Initiatives at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

Dr. Springer is a licensed Psychologist with an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a doctoral degree from the University of Florida.

She has particular expertise in innovative suicide prevention approaches, moral injury, trauma recovery, close relationships, peer support program development, and veterans' issues, including post-discharge adjustment as well as strategies for engaging Veterans in behavioral health care.

Prior to her current role at TAPS, she served as a front-line psychologist in a Department of Veterans Affairs behavioral health clinic. She helped launch the peer support program in her clinic, and continually innovated to better serve the veterans on her caseload. Known to many veterans as “Doc Springer,” she has helped hundreds of warriors reconnect with their tribe, strengthen their most important relationships, and build lives that are driven by their deepest values.

Based on the trust she has earned within the veteran community, she has acquired a wealth of knowledge about how our bravest citizens may struggle, and the sacred values and potentially life-saving strategies that may help all of us stay in the fight. Recently, she has been developing training on how to have respectful, effective conversations about lethal means with veterans who own firearms.