- Private Practice Psychotherapist
- Clinical Director, Indianapolis Fire Department Peer Support Team Lieutenant (RET)
Dr. Robert L. Smith is a psychotherapist and 35 year veteran of the fire
service. He is a retired lieutenant with the Indianapolis Fire Department. He
is a past station officer and currently clinical director of the department's
IFD/ Local 416 Stress Management Unit (Peer Support Group). Dr. Smith also
maintains a private practice in psychotherapy. Dr. Smith has also worked as a
Supervisor of Interns and adjunct faculty at the Christian Theological Seminary
Family Therapy clinic on the Butler University Campus. He has published
numerous articles and consults with fire departments on issues relating to
stress management, leadership and behavioral issues. Dr. Smith is retired from
the Indiana Guard Reserve as a lieutenant colonel where he was the commander of
a medical unit.
Dr. Smith is also a member of the IAFF/IAFC Wellness fitness Initiative
behavioral health Task Force. This committee will make recommendations for best
practices in fire service behavioral health. This includes the implementation
of the Peer Support model for the fire service. (Stress Management Unit)
Dr. Smith holds a license to practice Marriage and family Therapy in the State
of Indiana. In addition, he holds an Indiana Mental Health Counselor's License.
Dr. Smith's areas of specialization include; public safety and military
personnel, marital and family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapies, stress
management, traumatic stress, and abuse issues. He has been trained in short
term interventions, object relations-based therapies, family systems contextual
therapy, stress management interventions, Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR). Dr. Smith has been an author, psychotherapist in
private practice and an educator for over 20 years.