Claire Houtsma, Ph.D.

Dr. Claire Houtsma received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi and completed her pre-doctoral internship training at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS). Dr. Houtsma is currently a Clinician Investigator and Suicide Prevention Coordinator at SLVHCS and the South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center. She also holds academic appointments in the schools of medicine at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and Tulane University.

Dr. Houtsma’s research focuses on three related areas – the role of firearms in suicide, capability for suicide, and sociocultural influences on suicide risk. She is passionate about developing, refining, and evaluating interventions designed to mitigate suicide risk, particularly among military service members and Veterans. To date, Dr. Houtsma has received funding from a variety of intramural and extramural agencies to support this work.

Contact Dr. Houtsma at claire.houtsma@va.gov