Suzanne
Best is a Clinical Psychologist in Portland, Oregon providing psychotherapy,
forensic evaluation, and consultation with extensive expertise in Post-traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related conditions.
After over a decade of directing various studies of combat veterans, police personnel, and civilian trauma survivors at the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center, Dr. Best relocated with her family to Portland, while continuing her VA research remotely. In her private practice she specializes in serving law enforcement professionals and returning veterans and conducts privately retained forensic evaluations in civil litigation.
As a PTSD Specialist
Dr. Best has researched, evaluated, and treated a wide variety of trauma sufferers including:
- Police Officers
- Combat Veterans
- Sexual Assault and other Violent Crime Victims
- Accident Victims
- Domestic Violence Victims
- Victims of Sudden Loss
As a Trauma Therapist
Dr. Best provides cognitive-behavioral, evidence-based treatment to adult trauma survivors. Her style of treatment is collaborative, educative and concrete as she assists her clients to:
- Increase their understanding and awareness of trauma's effects
- "Learn" that their traumatic experience is now a memory and that memories are not dangerous
- Develop effective coping strategies to lower their anxiety and regain control of their minds and bodies
As a Police Psychologist
Dr. Best serves local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, providing post-shooting interventions and presenting and consulting on Critical Incident Stress. She currently chairs the Post-shooting Intervention Guideline committee for the IACP Psychological Services Section and has recently combined her expertise in police psychology and combat stress to assist agencies in the post-deployment "repatriation" of their National Guard and Reservist officers.
In her Forensic Psychology Practice
Dr. Best conducts forensic evaluations and provides attorney consultations and expert witness testimony in personal injury, medical malpractice, and workplace stress cases with particular expertise in PTSD and post-trauma reactions.
Dr. Best has written numerous articles on PTSD and related issues (see CV). In 2006 she co-authored Courage After Fire: Coping Strategies for Returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans and Their Families, a self-help book for those seeking assistance in managing combat stress and other post-deployment readjustment struggles. -NOW OVER 100,000 COPIES IN PRINT-