This is the place to start.
Hi! I am Rebecca, a Doctor of Nursing Practice and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. I work with current and former Navy SEALs and UDT Frogmen. Together, we address their chronic pain, Operator Syndrome symptoms, trauma symptoms, sleep, anxiety and emotions, stress, sexual health, resilience, relationships, mission prep and debriefing, and anything else they want to talk about. I provide culturally competent, realistic care thanks to 4 years of experience working with over 100 past and present Navy SEALs and former UDT Frogmen. I also provide group services, like mission mental preparation, post-mission debriefing, and group education seminars.
No matter why you’re here or what you’re looking for, you’re in the right place!
A bit about my work:
I graduated with my doctorate in May 2022. During the 4 years of my doctoral education, I worked with the UDT/SEAL community to develop a plan for treating chronic pain and trauma symptoms among UDT/SEAL veterans and SEAL servicemembers. The treatment was very successful, which I believe is a credit to the +70 SEALs who volunteered their time to discuss their service experience and share their pain & trauma stories. I learned that a lot of past & present NSW Operators don’t have an impartial person to talk to about tough stuff and process their experience.
During these conversations, SEALs identified chronic pain and trauma as their community’s most important problems that needed solving, and many SEALs volunteered hours of their time over the years to discuss whether certain science-based strategies would be acceptable to community members. My choice of treatment was based on their guidance.
A weird thing about academia is that I do not own my doctoral research until it is published, which I am in the process of doing right now. So, I cannot publicly share exactly what I used to treat the group of veteran UDT/SEALs who worked with me or how I provided treatment, but I can talk about my research generally and discuss related topics, like Operator Syndrome. I will make my research publicly available as soon as it is published.
About this site and how to use it:
TacticalPsychiatry.com serves 3 missions:
Mission 1: Serve as a hub for reliable, evidence-based psychiatric & Operator Syndrome data for current and former SOF. I am frustrated that so much important data is hidden behind paywalls online, despite its usefulness to SOF and their care teams and loved ones. My experience with the UDT/SEAL community is that most understand their bodies and their brains to a point where they can say when and how things aren’t operating optimally and make educated guesses at what might help. Professionals like me can provide guidance and solutions, but step 1 is for the SOF professional to be educated and have access to evidence-based information (aka published research and reliable commentary on research). You can find information under the Articles & Reading tab.
Mission 2: Serve as a space where Past and present NSW operators and I can connect. I’m one of the very few professionals who specialize in Operator Syndrome, and I am one of even fewer who specialize in Naval Special Warfare. In fact, I think you could count all of us (civilian) NSW psych specialists on 1 hand. I hope more people heed the call in coming years, but for now we are a small group, and I created an online presence so SEALs can find me. To contact me, please use the contact form on under the Contact tab.
Mission 3: Serve as a space where fellow professionals can find me. I worked in bedside nursing for over a decade before earning my doctorate, and I love collaborating with interdisciplinary teams. As a Doctor of Nursing Practice, I apply research to solve problems. My preferred methodology is to use community-based participatory research because community engagement produces positive, realistic, and long-lasting outcomes. If you are interested in collaborating, please use the contact form on under the Contact tab.
Maybe you’re here because you’d like to work with me.
If you are seeking supportive therapy or to process your experience, use the contact page.
If you’re interested in hiring me for debriefing, mission mental prep, high performance mental prep, or for seminars, it’s best to email me. You can reach me at Rebecca@TacticalPsychiatry.com.
Or, perhaps you’re here to check out the page and do some reading. If that is the case, I recommend starting at the Articles & Reading page.
Regardless of why you’re here, welcome. This is a place of science, resources, and realistic care that is centered on partnership.
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