David S. Riggs, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). As CDP Director, he oversees the development and delivery of training seminars to behavioral health professionals to prepare them to provide for the needs of warriors and their families.

Dr. Riggs earned his Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed a clinical psychology internship at the Medical University of South Carolina. Prior to taking the position with the CDP, Dr. Riggs held clinical research positions at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania and the National Center for PTSD at the Boston VA Medical Center.

As a clinical and research psychologist, much of Dr. Riggs’ work has focused on trauma, violence and anxiety with a particular interest in the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders on the families of those directly affected. Over the past 20 years, he has trained and supervised numerous student and mental health professionals from the United States and other countries in techniques for treating PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and other anxiety disorders. This included training professionals in ways to address the emotional and psychological needs of survivors of combat, international terror, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and sexual and physical assault.

Dr. Riggs has published more than 60 articles and book chapters and presented more than 200 papers and workshops on topics including PTSD, domestic violence, and behavioral therapy.