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Sonja V. Batten, PhD (she/her/hers)

Chief Clinical Officer
Stop Soldier Suicide
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

Dr. Sonja Batten is a licensed clinical psychologist who currently serves as Stop Soldier Suicide’s Chief Clinical Officer - the organization’s senior mental health professional overseeing clinical program development based on the latest scientific evidence. Prior to joining Stop Soldier Suicide, Dr. Batten served as the Senior Psychological Health Advisor for Booz Allen Hamilton, where she led the firm’s Behavioral Health Community of Practice for eight years. Before that, she oversaw national mental health policy as a senior executive in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as Deputy Chief Consultant for Specialty Mental Health and Acting Chief Consultant. Her responsibilities included supervising the development of mental health policy related to the specialty areas of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide prevention, military sexual trauma, substance use disorders, women’s mental health, and collaboration with the Department of Defense. She also led VA’s innovative, nationwide mental health public awareness campaign “Make the Connection,” winning more than 50 awards in two years, and spearheading a highly engaging social media strategy for the campaign.

Dr. Batten was the first Deputy Director for the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and the first Associate Director for Women’s Health Research at Yale University School of Medicine. While leading outpatient and residential PTSD programs for the VA Maryland Health Care System, Dr. Batten established the facility’s first mental health outreach and clinical program for veterans who were returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Batten earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Nevada Reno and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Georgia, where she graduated first in her class. She received specialized training in PTSD from the National Center for PTSD and National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center. She is also a certified executive coach.

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