Media contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu
On-site contact: Julie Collins, (210) 218-8746, collinsjr@uthscsa.edu
SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 16, 2025 – Military City USA will welcome hundreds of researchers, clinicians, military leaders and policymakers Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 20-21, for the San Antonio Combat PTSD Conference, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. each day. They’ll gather at the Westin Riverwalk to discuss the latest advances in caring for those with the psychological wounds of war and how to lead more affected service members and veterans to recovery.
Hosted by the STRONG STAR Consortium and UT Health San Antonio, the health enterprise of The University of Texas at San Antonio, the annual gathering started 10 years ago as a way to share the state of the science on post-traumatic stress disorder and co-occurring conditions affecting our war fighters. Today it is recognized as the premier scientific gathering on the topic of military psychological health.
Each year, the conference attracts an international audience of professionals from within the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs as well as from academic institutions and the civilian sector. Numerous military personnel, veterans and community members with an interest in military psychology also join the proceedings, as do students and professional trainees.
“This year’s conference has so much to offer,” said Alan Peterson, PhD, director of the STRONG STAR Consortium and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UT San Antonio Long School of Medicine. “We’ll report on the promise of innovative new and complementary treatments, offer practical tips and advice on the delivery of evidence-based therapies, and share personal stories and professional camaraderie that inspire us in our work.”
Program highlights
Sure to inspire is Monday’s “Profiles and Resilience” keynote by Benjamin Hall. After sustaining traumatic injuries while covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Fox News correspondent eventually was flown to and treated at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and went through a long recovery involving more than 30 surgeries. He will discuss his harrowing experience and the factors that contributed to his resolve in overcoming the psychological aftermath of trauma.
Afterwards, conference attendees will hear from retired Army colonel and orthopaedic surgeon Joseph Alderete Jr., MD, of UT Health San Antonio and other members of Hall’s stellar BAMC care team. They will discuss from an interdisciplinary perspective how incorporating psychological resiliency into patient care can be a force multiplier.
Tuesday’s keynote will be delivered by international PTSD expert Barbara Rothbaum, PhD, of Emory University School of Medicine, who will speak on a topic that has great national interest: the promise of psychedelic-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD.
Other topical highlights will include:
- Strategies to optimize PTSD treatment outcomes by involving romantic partners and family members
- How to address trauma-related guilt and shame
- Self-compassion, moral injury and spirituality in the context of evidence-based treatments
- Project blitz of innovative new studies being launched by the STRONG STAR Consortium
“This conference is a tremendous opportunity to learn about advances in treating traumatic psychological injuries and practical tips for implementing best practices,” Peterson said. “It also offers a chance to discuss current research gaps and how best to keep moving the science forward for the benefit of our war fighters and others affected by trauma.”
For more information on the San Antonio Combat PTSD Conference, visit www.combatPTSDconference.com. The full agenda is available at https://combatptsdconference.com/agenda/.
UT Health San Antonio is the health enterprise of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UT San Antonio), offering a comprehensive network of inpatient and outpatient care facilities staffed by medical, dental, nursing and allied health professionals who conduct more than 2.5 million patient visits each year. It is the region’s only academic health center and one of the nation’s leading health sciences institutions, supported by the schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions, graduate biomedical sciences and public health that are leading change and advancing fields throughout South Texas and the world. To learn about the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit UTHealthSA.org.
The STRONG STAR Consortium is a state and federally funded, multi-institutional research group working to develop and evaluate the most effective early interventions for the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological health conditions in military personnel, veterans, and first responders. Under the leadership of UT Health San Antonio and based in South/Central Texas, STRONG STAR brings together the expertise of a world-class team of military, civilian and VA institutions and investigators and one of the largest populations of post-9/11 military service members and veterans in the nation. With the critical mass of talent required to make major scientific advances in psychological health, STRONG STAR investigators are working to improve countless lives by preventing the development of chronic psychological health problems in military personnel, veterans, first responders, and their families. For more information, visit www.strongstar.org.