ABOUT
Susan is the President/Founder of Under the Shield, Inc., a 501 c 3 nonprofit that she started in 1992. Susan has been recognized as a subject matter expert in Law Enforcement and Military Stress and Post Traumatic Stress Injury. She has been an instructor at the FBI Academy Quantico VA, US Marine Corps 3rd Battalion 23 Marines Lima Company, US Air Force Europe, consulting clinician NYPD post 9/11, NTOA and NTOA Crisis Negotiators Conference, Int’l Narcotics/Interdiction Officer’s Assn, the International Crime Scene Tech’s Assoc Conference, the Int’l Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, and many other agencies and associations over the past 3 decades. She provides proactive, resiliency-based training for first responders, military and their families and takes a unique approach to the issues of suicide prevention, relationship building and Post Traumatic Stress, providing solutions to issues such as vitamin deficiencies, adrenal fatigue, sleep deprivation and other various reactions to the lifestyles. In 1992 she wrote the Simons Theory of the Psychological Garbage Can which many in the law enforcement world have credited with saving their lives, relationships and/or careers.
Through Under the Shield, Inc., she has created the only Stress Coach Certification in the United States specifically for law enforcement, first responders, military, and their families. Susan started the podcast Under the Shield presents “Fight in Progress” in August of 2020 which can be found on Spotify, Apple podcast, SoundCloud and many other platforms. Her cohost, Officer Chris Farrar with the Chandler AZ Police Dept was murdered in the line of duty on 04-30-2021. All trainings and speaking engagements are dedicated to Chris’ memory!
Susan holds a M.S. in Counseling and Human Development from Troy University and is a Board-Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress as well as a Fellow with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She attributes her expertise in the law enforcement lifestyle to her 20-year marriage to a federal agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. She is also the proud mother of United States Marine. She currently resides in Phoenix Arizona
