CLU honors Mary Neal Vieten of Lexington Park

THOUSAND OAKS, CA (06/15/2011)(readMedia)-- A psychologist who has dedicated her career to helping veterans is the 2011 Outstanding Alumna of California Lutheran University.

Mary Neal Vieten of Lexington Park, Md., is a board-certified clinical psychologist who specializes in post-deployment veterans issues. She has focused most of her work on veterans, their families and the issues that concern them.

Vieten served as a psychologist with the Navy for 10 years on active duty, helping service members suffering from anxiety, depression and grief. After transferring to the Navy Reserve in 2008, she started a private practice. She provides pro-bono or low-cost treatment to veterans suffering from hard-core post-traumatic stress disorder who haven't found help from other programs, aren't well enough to navigate U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services, or don't have means to pay.

In 2008, Vieten co-founded MISSION: PTSD, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing comprehensive, private treatment for veterans suffering from combat-related PTSD.

Vieten has been an outspoken advocate for veterans. She serves as a consultant to the Tri-County Council of Southern Maryland on veterans issues and works with the Maryland's Commitment to Veterans program, providing evaluations for veterans who can't be seen by the VA for weeks or months.

She is also an adjunct psychology instructor at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Vieten earned a bachelor's degree from CLU in 1986. She went on to earn a master's degree in counseling from Boston University and a doctorate in counseling psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

CLU is a selective university located in Thousand Oaks, with Adult Degree Evening Program and graduate centers in Oxnard and Woodland Hills. With an enrollment of 3,900 students, CLU offers 36 undergraduate majors and graduate programs within the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Management and Graduate School of Education. Doctoral degrees in educational leadership, higher education leadership and clinical psychology are also offered. Members of the CLU student body come from across the nation and around the world and represent a diversity of faiths and cultures. For more information, please visit http://www.callutheran.edu.

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MEDIA NOTE: A jpeg photo is available. Contact Karin Grennan at kgrennan@callutheran.edu or (805) 493-3512.