Barbara

Van Dahlen

,

Ph.D.

Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen is a child psychologist who received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland in 1991. She is an expert on the psychological impact of war and a thought leader in mobilizing constituencies to create large system change in the mental health sector. Dr. Van Dahlen is the Chief Executive Officer of WeBe Life (www.WeBeLife.com), a digital health company focused on improving global mental health and well being, and the Board Chair of the WeBe Life Foundation. She is the mental health consultant for the ABC television drama, A Million Little Things and serves as Senior Advisor to a number of organizations in the mental health and suicide prevention sectors. Dr. Van Dahlen is the former Executive Director of The President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS), a U.S. Cabinet Level Task Force, created by Presidential Executive Order in 2019, to build the first all-of-government and whole-of-nation effort focused on suicide prevention with our Veterans leading the way. As a key element of the PREVENTS effort, Dr. Van Dahlen developed the first national public health campaign focused on suicide prevention. Named to TIME magazine's 2012 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, Dr. Van Dahlen is also the Founder of Give an Hour® (www.giveanhour.org) a national nonprofit organization that provides free mental health care to those in need including Service members, Veterans and their families. Dr. Van Dahlen led the organization as President until 2019.