Joseph Geraci, PhD
Dr. Geraci retired from the U.S. Army as an Infantry Lieutenant Colonel after serving for 20 years and deploying as a combat leader with elite Special Operations/Ranger, Airborne, and Infantry units to Afghanistan four different times since 9/11. While in uniform, he also served as an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy in both the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership and the Department of Military Instruction. One of his last positions in the U.S. Army was serving as an Infantry Battalion Commander in which he was directly responsible for the health, welfare, and combat readiness of his soldiers. He received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University. He teaches military psychology to graduate students at Teachers College, and was a co-founder of the college’s Resilience Center for Veterans and Families. He serves within the VISN 2 MIRECC as a licensed psychologist and is focused on studying and developing interventions that mitigate the significant suicidal risks that our Modern Warriors (some of them being his former soldiers) face as they attempt to reintegrate back into their civilian communities after military service. Within the MIRECC, he leads two national VA programs (Veteran Cultural Competence training and the Veteran Sponsorship Initiative).
Research Interests
Sponsorship/mentors, veteran cultural competence, suicide prevention, transition from military to civilian life, Modern Warrior’s journey
Grants
Role: Co-principal investigator. Funding source: David and Maureen O’Connor Foundation.
Westchester County Drug Enhancement Court: Veteran Treatment Track and Medicated Assisted Treatment (2017-2020)
Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Funding source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration / New York State Unified Court System.
VA Veteran Cultural Competence Certification Training
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: Starbucks; NY State Health Foundation.
A Brief Peer-Support Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Military Life Transitions (Mil-iTransition) Following Medical and Physical Evaluation Boards
Role: Co-investigator. Funding source: Military Suicide Research Consortium.
In the News
VA ETS Sponsorship Program Helps Communities Fulfill Their Responsibility to Help Service Members Successfully Transition to Civilian Life (VA, November 2019)
Evidence-based Cultural Competence Training Seeks to Close the Veteran-Civilian Divide (VA, October 2019)
Training Program Brings Vet Experience to Life (Fordham News, October 2019)
LTC Geraci Leads the Fight Against Home-Front Enemies (The Altamont Enterprise Regional, October 2019)
Publications (Selected)
Geraci J, Mobbs M, Edwards E, …Sokol Y, Goodman M (2020). Expanded roles and recommendations for stakeholders to successfully reintegrate modern warriors and mitigate suicide risk. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01907/full
Geraci J, Mobbs M, Porcarelli R, Duffy E, Doerries B, McCarthy K, Cantor G, Sutton L, Goodman M (in press). Continued service as our north star: Reintegrating modern warriors to New York City. Accepted for publication in Military Journal.
Geraci J, Kapil-Pair N, Herrera S, Sokol Y, Landa Y (2020). The modern day Odysseus: Recommendations for mental health providers to better reintegrate modern warriors and mitigate suicide risk. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jclp.22923
Botero G, Rivera N, Calloway S, Ortiz P, Edwards E, Chae J, Geraci J (2020). A lifeline in the dark: Breaking through the stigma of veteran mental health and treating America’s combat veterans. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jclp.22918
Geraci J, Baker M, Tussenbroek B, Bonanno G, Sutton L. Understanding and mitigating post-traumatic stress disorder, in Leading in Dangerous Contexts, 2011.
