Dr. Tracy A. Clemans obtained a Doctorate of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (PsyD) from the American School of Professional Psychology in Tampa, Florida in 2010. Dr. Clemans completed a Pre-Doctoral Internship at the Northeast Florida State Hospital and gained experience in psychological and forensic assessment and psychotherapy with severely mentally ill patients. Dr. Clemans worked as a Psychology Resident at Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida as a member of the Spinal Cord Injury team providing assessment, individual and group therapy, consultation to team members, and community outreach.
From 2010 to 2012, Dr. Clemans completed a Post Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center where she worked as a research therapist with STRONG STAR, a PTSD Research Consortium funded by the Department of Defense. As a part of this fellowship, Dr. Clemans was responsible for providing individual and group PTSD treatment with active duty soldiers as a part of randomized control trial at an Army post in Ft. Hood, Texas.
Dr. Clemans received extensive training and was certified in individual and group Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder. She was also trained and certified in providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi). In addition, Dr. Clemans provided psychological evaluations for PTSD and suicide risk assessments throughout her fellowship.
Dr. Clemans joined the VISN 19 MIRECC team as a recruitment coordinator and therapist for the Window to Hope research project in 2012. This randomized control trial will evaluate a psychological treatment for suicide prevention among Veterans with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Clemans serves as a consultant on the VISN 19 MIRECC Suicide Consultation Service, providing suicide and psychological assessment to Veterans considered to be at-risk for suicide.
In addition, she provides individual psychotherapy with Veterans with PTSD, substance abuse, and suicidality issues.
Areas of interest/specialty: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicidality, Suicide Risk Assessment, Survivors of Suicide, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy.
Research Projects
Window to Hope – Evaluating a Psychological Treatment for Hopelessness among Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury
This proposed project will be the first to replicate a groundbreaking psychological treatment for suicide prevention among those with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, Window to Hope (WtoH), developed by PI Simpson and colleagues in Sydney, Australia. WtoH has been successfully evaluated in a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT), in which treated Australian civilians (n=17) with severe TBI recorded significant decreases in hopelessness. The current project aims to (i) undertake the cross-cultural adaptation of the WtoH program; (ii) establish the acceptability and feasibility of WtoH within the VAMC context; and (iii) conduct a RCT within the VAMC to replicate the results from the original trial (efficacy). Deliverables are expected to include an intervention suitable for a larger trial and broader dissemination.
Impact of Cognitive Processing Therapy on Suicidal Ideation among Active Duty Military Personnel
June 2012
Poster presented at the 2012 DoD/ VA Suicide Prevention Conference, Washington DC
Tracy A. Clemans PsyD, Patricia A. Resick PhD ABPP, Katherine Dondanville PsyD, Jennifer Schuster PhD, Alan L. Peterson PhD ABPP, Craig J. Bryan PsyD ABPP, Brad B. Evans PsyD, Jim Mintz PhD and the STRONG STAR Consortium
Presentation for Clinical Psychology and Counseling PhD students with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and College of Education, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas
Bryan, C.J., Clemans, T.A., & Hernández, A.M. (2012). Perceived burdensomeness, fearlessness of death, and suicidality among deployed military personnel. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 374-379.
Abstract: The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide posits that the interaction of three elements is required for lethal suicidal behaviors: the perception that one is a burden on others, the perception that one does not belong, and fearlessness about death combined with high pain tolerance (termed "acquired capability" for suicide). Although an ever expanding research base supports the theory, very limited data exist supporting the theory among military personnel, a group that has experienced a rapid increase in suicides during the past several years. The current study tests the interpersonal-psychological theory in two clinical samples of military personnel while deployed to Iraq: those seeking treatment for mild traumatic brain injury, and those seeking outpatient mental health treatment. In both samples, perceived burdensomeness and acquired capability were significantly associated with suicidality, as was their interaction term. Results partially support the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide, and indicate that perceptions of burdensomeness combined with fearlessness about death are associated with increased suicidality among deployed military personnel.
Bryan CJ, Clemans TA, Hernandez AM, Rudd MD. Loss of consciousness, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and suicide risk among deployed military personnel with mild traumatic brain injury. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2013 Jan;28(1):13-20.
OBJECTIVE: To identify clinical variables associated with suicidality in military personnel with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) while deployed to Iraq. SETTING: Outpatient TBI clinic on a US military base in Iraq. PARTICIPANTS: Military personnel (N = 158) referred to an outpatient TBI clinic for a standardized intake evaluation, 135 (85.4%) who had a diagnosis of mTBI and 23 (14.6%) who did not meet criteria for TBI. MAIN MEASURES: Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, Depression subscale of the Behavioral Health Measure-20, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military Version, Insomnia Severity Index, self-report questionnaire, and clinical interview addressing TBI-related symptoms. RESULTS: Among patients with mTBI, increased suicidality was significantly associated with depression and the interaction of depression with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Longer duration of loss of consciousness was associated with decreased likelihood for any suicidality. CONCLUSION: Assessment after TBI in a combat zone may assist providers in identifying those at risk for suicidality and making treatment recommendations for service members with mTBI.
Bryan CJ, Hernandez AM, Allison S, Clemans T. Combat exposure and suicide risk in two samples of military personnel. J Clin Psychol. 2013 Jan;69(1):64-77. doi: 10.1002/jclp.21932. Epub 2012 Oct 15.
OBJECTIVE: In light of increased suicidal behaviors among military personnel and veterans since the initiation of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, questions have been raised about the potential causal role of combat. The objective of the current study was to identify any direct or indirect effects of combat exposure on suicide risk through depression symptom severity, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and fearlessness about death, consistent with the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide (Joiner, 2005). METHOD: Structural equation modeling was utilized with two separate samples of deployed military personnel, 1 nonclinical (n = 348; 89.7% male, mean age = 24.50) and 1 clinical (n = 219; 91.8% male, mean age = 27.88), to test the effects of combat exposure on suicide risk. RESULTS: Greater combat exposure was directly associated with fearlessness about death and PTSD symptom severity in both samples, but failed to show either a direct or indirect effect on suicide risk. PTSD symptom severity was strongly associated with depression symptom severity, which in turn was related to suicide risk directly (in the nonclinical sample) or indirectly through low belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (in the clinical sample). CONCLUSIONS: In both samples of deployed active duty military personnel, combat exposure was either unrelated to suicide risk or was too distally related to have a measurable effect. Results do not support the interpersonal-psychological theory's hypothesis that combat exposure should be indirectly related to suicide risk through acquired fearlessness of death.
Matarazzo BB, Clemans TA, Silverman MM, Brenner LA. The Self-Directed Violence Classification System and the Columbia Classification Algorithm for Suicide Assessment: A Crosswalk. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2012 Nov 12.
Bryan CJ, 
