Sergeant Rich Blake

In over four years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant Rick Blake lived through more daunting scenes than most would expect to experience in a lifetime. However, he describes leading Marines as a part of the initial invasion of Iraq and his subsequent time as a member of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the “single most influential event in [his] life.”
Despite witnessing physical wounds to friends and enemy alike, it was the psychological difficulties experienced by fellow veterans and the mental anguish that haunts the people of Iraq that inspired him to dedicate his life to helping those affected by traumatic experiences.

Currently studying to be a doctor of clinical psychology at Loyola University Maryland, treating veterans at the Baltimore VA hospital, as well as, directing a nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating veteran transition, Rich is gaining the experience needed to return to active duty as an effective psychologist and embark upon a career that reverses the aforementioned anguish (specifically that of posttraumatic stress disorder) through working for veterans’ mental health concerns as a clinical psychologist, researcher and advocate.