SALLY SPENCER-THOMAS, PSY.D. As a clinical psychologist, mental health advocate, faculty member, and survivor of her brother’s suicide, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas sees the issues of mental health promotion and suicide prevention from a number of perspectives. Currently, she is the CEO and Co-Founder of the Carson J Spencer Foundation, a Colorado-based nonprofit organization with a mission to “sustain a passion for life” through suicide prevention, social entrepreneurship and support for people bereaved by suicide. She has also held leadership positions with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (a program of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center) and the American Association of Suicidology. As a professional speaker for CAMPUSPEAK she travels around the nation speaking to college students and staff about leadership, suicide prevention and how to give the simple gift of reaching out.
After working as a therapist in a college counseling center and private practice for over a decade, she found a calling in the work of preventing suicide. As a Master QPR Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Trainer, she trains trainers across the Rocky Mountain region. She has presented nationally and internationally on the topics of mental health promotion and suicide prevention including speaking engagements for the FBI Academy, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the American College Personnel Association, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, the American Association of Suicidology, and the International Association of Suicide Prevention. She currently serves as on the board for the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado and as the Survivor Division Director for the American Association of Suicidology. While at Regis University, she was the Project Director for the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant and developed a comprehensive suicide prevention program for campuses called “People Prevent Suicide.” As an affiliate faculty member for Regis’ Division of Business, she taught leadership students about wellness, social change, and leading with differences in mind. Dr. Spencer-Thomas is the mother of three boys and she lives with her partner and children in Conifer, Colorado.
