Heather Kacos, Psy.D. is the Regional Director, Clinical Network at The Headstrong Project. She brings more than a decade of experience in trauma-focused treatment, suicide prevention, and large-scale implementation of evidence-based practices for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex clinical presentations. Dr. Kacos held clinical and leadership roles within the Department of Veterans Affairs, serving on PTSD Clinical Teams and supporting system-level initiatives to improve access, fidelity, and quality of trauma-focused care. Dr. Kacos is deeply committed to ensuring veterans have access to gold-standard, evidence-based care and advancing the field of traumatic stress recovery.
Dr. Kacos has significant expertise in workforce development, clinical training, and consultation. She has served as a national trainer, consultant, and subject matter expert for Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), contributing to the development and sustainment of DBT programs across multiple VA medical centers. She has collaborated on special initiatives with the National Center for PTSD to advance implementation of evidence-based treatments and regularly presents at national and international conferences on trauma, suicide prevention, and clinical innovation. Her scholarly work includes publications on gender-based violence, trauma, and suicide prevention. Dr. Kacos’ experience supports the continued growth of The Headstrong Project’s clinical network and advances high-quality, evidence-based care across the organization.
Dr. Kacos earned a B.S. in psychology and child development from Florida State University and a M.S. and Psy.D. in clinical psychology from Nova Southeastern University. She completed an APA-accredited internship at the Tennessee Valley VA Healthcare System and Vanderbilt School of Medicine Consortium, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the North Florida/South Georgia VA with a specialized focus in PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI). She maintains a faculty appointment with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of South Florida, where she provides clinical supervision, case consultation, and didactic instruction to psychiatry residents and fellows.
