Raluca Simons

Raluca Simons serves as Professor and Faculty Director of the Disaster Mental Health Institute at the University of South Dakota. She holds appointments in the Department of Psychology and directs the Traumatic Stress, Emotional Dysregulation, and Substance Use Lab. Her academic background includes a Ph.D. in Clinical/Disaster Psychology from USD (2007), an MS in Counseling and Human Resources from SDSU (2002), and a BS in Psychology & French from SDSU (1999).

Dr. Simons' research spans traumatic stress phenomena including PTSD mechanisms among military personnel, childhood maltreatment effects, emotional dysregulation processes, and the intersection of trauma with substance use disorders. Her work increasingly explores psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and non-ordinary states of consciousness as therapeutic approaches. She employs diverse methodologies including experience sampling, neuroimaging, and large-scale consortium research through ENIGMA.

Her publication record demonstrates consistent productivity with numerous high-impact articles examining the complex relationships between trauma exposure, emotional regulation difficulties, and behavioral outcomes. Recent work focuses on betrayal trauma, moral injury, and the neural underpinnings of PTSD through multi-site collaborations.

• Presidents Award for Research Excellence, USD (2021)
• Multiple NIH Loan Repayment Program Awards for Clinical Researchers (2008-2014)
• APA/NIAAA and APA/NIDA Early Career Investigator Awards (2005-2006)
• DMHI Fellowships and Morgan Fellowships at USD (2001-2004)

Dr. Simons maintains active research mentoring through her lab, which studies how traumatic experiences affect emotional dysregulation and outcomes including substance use, PTSD, and interpersonal problems. She has secured substantial funding from NIH/NIMH, NIAAA, and DoD for projects examining PTSD-alcohol comorbidity, sleep disturbances in trauma survivors, and military sexual trauma.