Dr. Kristen Wheldon is a licensed clinical psychologist (CA License#27027) who has a passion for the behavioral health of firefighters and their families. She currently serves as the President and Founder of the Fire Service Psychology Association (FSPA), the nonprofit created to bridge the gap between professional psychology and the fire service. Dr. Wheldon previously worked for the Los Angeles Fire Department as their Director of Behavioral Health. In that role, she provided direct psychological services to firefighters and their families, managed and supervised the peer support and CISM teams, provided training on behavioral health topics, and supervised two doctoral psychology students. As one of a few fire psychologists in the country, she recognized that firefighters do not have access to psychological care tailored to their specific needs and founded FSPA.
Since that time, she has assisted the United States Fire Administration with the development of their newest Executive Fire Officer Program curriculum and is an active instructor. She currently serves on the National Fire Protection Association’s Standard for Emergency Responder Occupational Health and Wellness committee. She is a member of the Public Safety Sector Council for the National Occupational Research Agenda at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.