STMSS08 - Kacie Kelly - Warrior Wellness Alliance

Seeking the Military Suicide Solution

About Today’s Guest:

Kacie Kelly oversees and manages policy, operational, and programmatic efforts on veteran health and well-being for the George W. Bush Institute Military Service Initiative, which includes the Warrior Wellness Alliance. She manages strategic efforts to promote the partnerships, collaboration, and alignment among organizations that are so crucial to fostering the health and well-being of post-9/11 Veterans.

Prior to this role, Kacie served as the National Director for Public-Private Partnerships in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office for Suicide Prevention where she was responsible for developing a comprehensive and integrated public health approach to prevent suicide among the 14 million Veterans not engaged in VA healthcare. Throughout her 15-year career with VA, she led innovative programs to serve more Veterans and their families through strategic partnerships within government and across public and private sectors. In addition, she has had leading roles to promote military culture competence in the community, outreach efforts to reduce stigma associated with seeking mental healthcare, and to enhance provider proficiency in evidence-based mental health care. She earned her Master of Health Sciences (MHS) at Louisiana State University and has a Graduate Certificate in Women in Public Policy and Politics from the University of Massachusetts - Boston. Kacie has also been an active volunteer in the New Orleans community where she served as a Commissioner on the BioDistrict Board of New Orleans and on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

Warrior Wellness Alliance

Beyond war and PTSD: The crucial role of transition stress in the lives of military veterans

Kacie Kelly on Twitter

Join our Facebook Group:

Seeking the Military Suicide Solution on Facebook

Episode Sponsor:

milMedia Group

Shauna's latest book: Beyond the Military: A Leader's Handbook for Warrior Reintegration

Duane's latest book: Military in the Rear View Mirror: Mental Health and Wellness in Post-Military Life

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Many thanks,

Duane and Shauna

Episode Transcript:

Duane France (00:00):

Welcome to episode eight of the Seeking the Military Suicide Solution podcast brought to you by the military times. I'm Duane France.

Shauna Springer (00:07):

And I'm Doc Shauna Springer.

Kacie Kelly (00:09):

And we'd like to thank you for taking the time to learn more about suicide in the military affiliated population. I'd also like to thank our sponsors, milMedia Group. milMedia Group is a proven web design and digital media agency specializing in supporting organizations focusing on the military population. Find more about them at www.milmediagroup.com.

Duane France (00:36):

Thanks again to everybody for joining us to listen to an honest conversation about service member veteran and military family suicide. Do you want more folks to find the show? Make sure to give us an honest rating and review on your podcast player of choice. We'd also like you to join our Facebook group moderated by fellow combat veteran Dee James. You can find the group and the show notes by searching for Seeking the Military Suicide Solution on Facebook. As we continue this series looking at suicide in the military affiliated population, we want to highlight a number of groups that are working to bring folks together in collaboration. That's what our guest today is talking about. Shauna, what can you tell us about today's guest?

Shauna Springer (01:11):

Yes, Kacie Kelly has spent 17 years working in the field of suicide prevention. While she was at the VA, she spearheaded efforts to disseminate cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure therapy throughout the VA system. Efforts which led to the training of 20,000 mental health professiona...