2025 Bridging The Gap: Behavioral Health Innovations Supporting Military Kids and Families

Erin Frick, Psy.D. Related Seminars and Products

Associate Director, DoD Child Collaboration Study, CDP

Erin Frick, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist serving as Associate Director of the DoD Child Collaboration Study for the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. In this role, she leads a team studying best practices for using telehealth, digital tools, and tele-education with healthcare providers and other professionals working with military youth and families with mental health, emotional, behavioral, and/or developmental needs. Dr. Frick also leads Evidence-Based Psychotherapy (EBP) trainings and is integrally involved in CDP diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Dr. Frick earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Manchester University (formerly Manchester College) in Indiana. She graduated with her master’s degree in mental health counseling from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Wright State University in Dayton, OH. 

Before joining CDP, she worked as a contract psychologist treating active-duty military members at Travis Air Force Base, CA, utilizing multiple EBPs. Earlier in her career, she worked primarily in university counseling and community mental health centers. Dr. Frick’s clinical work has focused on the dissemination and implementation of EBPs, developing group therapy services, training and supervision, mindfulness-based treatments, and the assessment and treatment of trauma-related mental health conditions.

William Brim, Psy.D. Related Seminars and Products

Executive Director, CDP

William Brim, Psy.D., is the executive director of the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He joined CDP in 2007, initially as a deployment behavioral health psychologist at Malcolm Grow Medical Center and served as deputy director until 2017. Prior to joining CDP, Dr. Brim served on active duty as a psychologist in the United States Air Force from 1997 to 2007.

Dr. Brim received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Tennessee and his master’s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is a graduate of the Wilford Hall Medical Center Psychology Residency Program and the Wilford Hall Clinical Health Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program.

Dr. Brim is a recognized and post-doctoral fellowship trained behavioral sleep medicine specialist. Clinically he focuses on the assessment and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, insomnia and nightmares. Dr. Brim has over 100 publications and presentations on a range of topics including military culture, insomnia and insomnia and nightmare treatments and trauma. He is frequently called on to consult in courts martial and discharge boards as a forensic psychology expert with a specific focus on trauma and memory. Dr. Brim is currently the American Psychological Association’s Military Psychology Division 19 President.

Abigail Gewirtz, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Foundation Professor, Director, Reach Institute, Arizona State University

Dr. Abigail Gewirtz is a child psychologist, mother of four, leading expert on helping families cope with trauma and the author of When the World Feels Like a Scary Place: Essential Conversations for Anxious Parents and Worried Children (Workman, 2020). She is a Foundation Professor in the Psychology Department and the Director of the Reach Institute at Arizona State University. Dr. Gewirtz has worked as a clinician, researcher, program developer, and trainer of providers and is the author of more than 100 publications. Dr. Gewirtz and her team developed and rigorously tested the After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) program for military families in four randomized control trials. In 2024, she was honored with the Military Child Education Coalition Mary M. Keller Award for Distinguished Contributions to Science.

Alexander Rice, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Research Psychologist, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Alexander J. Rice, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a Scientist at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress in Bethesda, Maryland. He earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Iowa, where he also completed advanced training in Educational Measurement and Statistics. Dr. Rice specializes in family dynamics, mental health, and psychological assessment, with a focus on both military and civilian family systems. His current research promotes safety and resilience by examining how family‐level factors shape firearm storage practices and by addressing traumatic stress and bereavement in families.

Elizabeth Hisle-Gorman, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Chair: Division of Military Child and Family Research, USU

Dr. Hisle-Gorman is Director of the Military Child and Family Research Division and Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics. She started her career as a social worker in Washington, DC, supporting families to prevent violence and hardship. After moving to a military town with her active duty military spouse, she focused on military families, working as a Child Protective Services officer in Onslow County, North Carolina. After completing her Ph.D. in Social Work at the University of Maryland, Dr. Hisle-Gorman taught and worked in community development, and was the senior author on one of the first articles to document the clinical effects of military deployment on children.  Now at USUHS, her research is focused on the impact of past military deployment on military children, effects of parental injury and family violence on pediatric health and mental health, and healthcare usage trends in military pediatrics.  She has also worked on projects examining autism in children, indicators of immunization completion, neonatal health, care for transgender individuals, healthcare disparities, and the effects of medications on children. Dr. Hisle-Gorman has significant experience working with the Military Health System Data Repository and conducting retrospective research studies about military-connected children using the MDR.  

Dee Ray, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, RPT-S Related Seminars and Products

Regents Emerita Professor, Counseling Program & Director Emerita, Center for Play Therapy, University of North Texas; Co-owner EmpathyWell PLLC

Dr. Dee C. Ray is co-owner of the counseling practice, EmpathyWell, in Highland Village, TX where she facilitates play therapy, training, consultation, and supervision. Dr. Ray is Regents Emeritus Professor in the Counseling Program and Director Emeritus of the Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas.  Dr. Ray has published over 150 articles, chapters, and books in the field of play therapy, specializing in research specifically examining the process and effects of Child Centered Play Therapy.  Dr. Ray is author of Playful Education: Using Play Therapy Strategies to Elevate Your Classroom, A Therapist’s Guide to Development: The Extraordinarily Normal Years, Advanced Play Therapy: Essential Conditions, Knowledge, and Skills for Child Practice, and co-author of Multicultural Play Therapy and Group Play Therapy. She is a founding board member and past president of the Association for Child and Adolescent Counseling, as well as past board chair of the Association for Play Therapy. She is an American Counseling Association Fellow, and two-time recipient of the Association for Play Therapy Outstanding Research Award, among many others.

Thomas Trail, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Senior Behavioral Scientist, RAND Corporation

Thomas Trail is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at RAND where his research focuses on how stress affects relationship processes and health outcomes among military and civilian couples, and the effectiveness of programs in mitigating family stress. His recent research projects include establishing the Today’s Army Spouse Panel, a longitudinal study of the needs of Army spouses and their families; an assessment of the needs of military-connected children and the resources available to address those needs; and a broad examination of the adults and children providing care for wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans. He also led an evaluation of the Department of Defense programs that provide non-medical counseling services to military service members and their families. Prior to joining RAND, Thomas was a postdoctoral scholar at UCLA. He received his PhD in social psychology from Princeton University and his MS in applied/experimental psychology from Virginia Tech.

Damien Fair, PA-C, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Redleaf Endowed Director, Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain Professor, Institute of Child Development, College of Education and Human Development Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School

Dr. Damien Fair is a Cognitive Neuroscientist and Professor in the Institute of Child Development and the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He is also the Redleaf Endowed Director of the Masonic Institute of the Developing Brain. Combining technical advances in functional MRI, advanced mathematics, and expertise in psychology and neuroscience, Fair has been able to demonstrate several basic principles of brain development and its relationships to typical and atypical behaviors. In 2012, he was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers Issued by President Barack Obama and the White House. In 2020 he was named a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow. Fair is deeply committed to public service, community engagement, and STEM education. He has given several briefings to the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus and the American Brain Coalition on the intersection of brain development, policy making, and education. He aims to advance the intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and brain health - widening the reach of those who are trained and ‘touched’ by the efforts.

Mary Leppert, M.B., B.CH., B.A.O. Related Seminars and Products

Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Dr. Mary L. O'Connor Leppert, MD, BCh, is a neurodevelopmental pediatrician in the Department of Neurology and Developmental Medicine at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Leppert is also the Division Director of Developmental Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Leppert's focus is on education of neurodevelopmental disorders. She is the director of Kennedy Krieger Project ECHO and is the chief editor of the Kennedy Krieger Instruction in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND) curriculum.

Jeffrey Goodie, Ph.D., ABPP Related Seminars and Products

Professor, Deputy Director for Research Department of Family Medicine, USU

Dr. Jeffrey Goodie is a board-certified clinical health psychologist with over two decades of experience in clinical care, research, education, and leadership across academic, military, and federal health systems. He is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and serves as the department’s Deputy Director for Research, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from West Virginia University and completed his residency and postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at Wilford Hall Medical Center. Dr. Goodie served 22 years in uniformed service, including nine years in the U.S. Air Force and 13 years in the U.S. Public Health Service. He currently serves as a co-principal investigator, along with Dr. Paul Crawford, on the Family Medicine- Examining Behavioral Health of Military Adolescents and Children (EMBRACE) studies, funded through the DoD and a USU cooperative agreement titled Research Collaboratory to Explore Best Practices for Expanding Access to Care through the Expansion and Support of Telehealth Care for Children and Families with Behavioral Health Needs.

Joseph Geraci, Ph.D. Related Seminars and Products

Retired Lieutenant Colonel (US Army); Director, VA Transitioning Servicemember/Veteran And Suicide Prevention Center

Dr. Geraci retired from the U.S. Army as an Infantry Lieutenant Colonel after serving for 20 years and deploying as a combat leader with elite Special Operations/Ranger, Airborne, and Infantry units to Afghanistan four different times since 9/11. While in uniform, he also served as an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy in both the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership and the Department of Military Instruction. One of his last positions in the U.S. Army was serving as an Infantry Battalion Commander in which he was directly responsible for the health, welfare, and combat readiness of his soldiers. He received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University. He serves within the VA as a licensed psychologist and director of the VA’s Transitioning Servicemember/ Veteran And Suicide Prevention Center focused on studying and developing interventions that mitigate the significant suicidal risks that our Modern Warriors (some of them being his former soldiers) face as they attempt to reintegrate back into their civilian communities after military service.

Colleen Runnion, M.A. Related Seminars and Products

Qualitative Research Associate

Colleen Runnion, MA, is an applied anthropologist and qualitative researcher with the Department of Pediatrics at the Uniformed Services University, within the Division of Military Child and Family Research. Her current areas of focus include qualitative research exploring military child and adolescent mental health.  She is working as part of a team to design and implement focus groups and interviews with military-connected parents and young adults with a history of accessing care for pediatric mental, emotional, developmental, and behavioral healthcare needs. Ms. Runnion also co-leads the Stakeholder Engagement Group, a group of military-connected parents that provides insights into the DOD Child Collaboration Study.