Dr. Joseph Constans, clinical psychologist and Senior Manager for Suicide Prevention within the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been recognized by the Louisiana Psychological Association for the 2022 Contributions in Psychological Science Award.
Presenting the award and spokesperson for the association, Dr. Amanda Raines explained that this honor is given to those in the psychological community who have used their time and resources to expand and propagate the knowledge of psychological concepts through rigorous research and the publication of these findings.
“Dr. Constans was recently promoted to Senior Manager for Suicide Prevention within the Department of Veterans Affairs where he manages the suicide research portfolio for the Office of Research and Development,” Dr. Raines said.
“Previously he served as the Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System where he successfully led the activation of our state of-the-art research program following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Constans’ own program of research involves understanding and modifying belief systems in trauma-exposed individuals prone to either homicidal or suicidal violence,” she said.
“In his role as the Senior Manager for Suicide Prevention at the Department of Veteran Affairs, Dr. Constans is instrumental to the Office of Research and Development, where he maintains the suicide research portfolio,” said Dr. Raines.
She also explained that Dr. Constans has published over 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, serves as an ad hoc reviewer for over 20 peer reviewed journals and has secured funding for over $12 million in grants.
“I’m truly honored,” Dr. Constans told the Times, “that my colleagues selected me as the recipient for the Louisiana Psychological Association 2022 Contributions in Psychological Science Award. The Boulder model served as the framework for my graduate education in clinical psychology, and I continue to strongly support the scientist/practitioner approach. Therefore, I am particularly grateful to have received this award.”
Dr. Constans is also Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at Tulane University School of Medicine, and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Louisiana State University School of Medicine.
He is a member of the Tulane University Violence Prevention Institute (VPI), which focuses its research on violence both in the local community and across the globe. The Violence Prevention Institute mission is to be “an equity- focused hub supporting communities to foster transformative research, training, and advocacy to address systemic, structural, and interpersonal violence.” Local research has shown that the prevalence of sexual assault and domestic violence in the New Orleans area needs to be addressed with research and community collaboration.
Dr. Constans is a member of both the Internal Advisory Committee at the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center, whose objective is to transform the clinical and translational research efforts of our region away from the status quo, to a unified, comprehensive approach targeting the theme of “prevention, care and research of chronic diseases in the underserved population.”
He also serves on the Advisory Board at Louisiana Violent Death Reporting System in the Louisiana Office of Public Health.
Dr. Contans is also the President of Louisiana Veterans Research and Education Corporation. Dr. Constans’ evidence-based methods utilized to combat anxiety disorders are rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for which he publicly advocates. He is passionate about serving his clients and the psychological community through research and treatment. His federally-funded research program is designed to understand and treat emotional disorders, and his extensive training with some of the early pioneers of CBT, including Drs. Andrew Mathew and Edna Foa, grant him the expertise which catalyzes this research.
In addition to his boots-on-the-ground work, Dr. Constans has been able to gather the Resources needed to fund research integral to his expertise. To facilitate his research surrounding trauma-exposed individuals, where he studies the thought process behind their belief systems and strives to achieve modification in this area, Dr. Constans has procured over $12 million in grants. This research is instrumental in preventing homicidal and suicidal violence, and his commitment to this work is evidenced in the 50-plus peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters he has published to date.
Working with the VA and Department of Defense, he has served as the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on countless studies and has been an ad hoc reviewer for over 20 peer- reviewed journals. He also has reviewed various grants funded by both the federal government and private entities.
Dr. Constans’ research includes the following major areas.
• Understanding attention, judgment, and memory bias in pathological anxiety:
Constans, J. I. & Mathews, A. M. (1993). Mood and the subjective risk of future events. Cognition and Emotion, 7(6), 545-560.
Constans, J. I., Foa, E. B., Franklin, M. E., & Mathews, A. (1995). Memory for actual and imagined events in OC checkers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(6), 665-671.
Constans, J. I., Penn, D. L., Ihen, G. H., & Hope, D. A. (1999). Interpretive biases for ambiguous stimuli in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37(7), 643-651.
Peters, K., Constans, J. I., & Mathews, A. (2011). Experimental modification of attribution processes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(1), 168-173.
• Cognitive bias and neuropsychological deficits associated with PTSD:
Constans, J. I., Foa, E. B., Franklin, M. E., & Mathews, A. (1995). Memory for actual and imagined events in OC checkers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(6), 665-671.
Constans, J. I., Penn, D. L., Ihen, G. H., & Hope, D. A. (1999). Interpretive biases for ambiguous stimuli in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37(7), 643-651.
Peters, K., Constans, J. I., & Mathews, A. (2011). Experimental modification of attribution processes. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(1), 168-173.
• The prevention of death, including homicide and suicide:
Wamser-Nanney, R. A., Nanney, J. T, & Constans, J. I. (2019). PTSD Symptoms and Attitudes Towards Guns. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Wamser-Nanney, R. A., Nanney, J. T., Conrad, E., & Constans, J. I. (2019). Childhood Trauma Exposure Among Victims of Gun Violence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, and Policy, 11(1), 99-106.
Wamser-Nanney, R., Nanney, J. T., & Constans, J. I. (2019). The Gun Behaviors and Beliefs Scale: Development of a new measure of gun behaviors and beliefs. Psychology of Violence, 10(2), 72–181.
Wamser-Nanney, R.A., Nanney, J.T, & Constans, J.I. Trauma Exposure and Attitudes Towards Guns. Psychology of Violence. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Dr. Constans told the Times, “When I began my professional career in the Veterans Health Administration 1993, I thought I’d last about 5 years in the organization. Now, almost 29 years later, I’m still a VA employee. Reflecting on why my prediction was so inaccurate and why I have stayed with this organization for so long, I can say that a primary reason is because of the opportunities that the VA provided me in pursuing a career as a clinician scientist,” he said.
Dr. Constans specializes in the non-medical treatment of a variety of emotional disorders including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, mild to moderate depression, and stress- related emotional issues.
After completing his undergraduate studies in Psychology at Louisiana State University (LSU), Dr. Constans went on to receive his M.S. at Colorado State University and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from LSU. He then completed his internship at the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
What does he view to be his most important contributions? “There have been three phases in my career as a clinician scientist,” Dr. Constans said. “For the first 15 years of my career, I investigated how biases in judgment and attention served as causative or maintaining factors for psychopathology, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder.
“In the second phase, beginning approximately 10 years ago, my focus evolved from studying the sequelae of trauma to one that is concerned with prevention. My interests became and remain the prevention of suicide and homicide with a particular emphasis in understanding how beliefs and behaviors surrounding firearms contributes to violent death,” he said.
“The third part of my career was and is as an administrator for scientific endeavors. I served as the Associate Chief of Staff for Research at the New Orleans VAMC from approximately a year after Hurricane Katrina until October of 2021. In this administrative position, I was able to advance and grow the scientific mission in our healthcare facility, and hopefully during this time, I served as a particularly strong advocate for psychological science,” he said.
“Now, I working for Office of Research and Development in VA’s Central Office, developing and managing the suicide prevention research portfolio, allowing me to assist in the advancement of psychological science to address an important public health issue,” Dr. Constans said.