PTSD: National Center for PTSD

Biography

Gayle Y. Iwamasa, PhD, HSPP, currently serves as the National Inpatient Mental Health Program Director in the VA Central Office (VACO), Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Dr. Iwamasa comes to her new position after serving as National Mental Health Quality Improvement and Implementation Consultant and Inpatient Mental Health Services Coordinator for most of the prior 10 years.

Dr. Iwamasa co-leads OMHSP's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and she received numerous awards and honors in this field, including the 2020 VA Secretary's Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Award, the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Asian American Psychological Association, the Emerging Professional Award from APA Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), and, she attained fellow status in APA's Divisions 18 and 45 and the Asian American Psychological Association.

Dr. Iwamasa's research interests focus on multicultural mental health across the lifespan, and she has given national and international presentations, authored many journal articles and book chapters, and co-edited Culturally Responsive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Practice and Supervision, 2nd Edition, (2018).

Prior to her career with VA, she spent 16 years in academia, educating and training clinical psychology graduate students. During this time, she also served as the Psychology Director at Logansport State Hospital where she played an instrumental role in the implementation of process improvement strategies related to recover-oriented care, establishment of an electronic medical record and external accreditation readiness. Dr. Iwamasa has been a licensed psychologist since 1993, and provided evidence-based individual, couple and group therapy throughout her professional life.