Dr. Eric Pedersen - Mobile Interventions for VeteransDr. Eric Pedersen - Mobile Interventions for Veterans
The Addiction Psychologist
Dr. Eric Pedersen talks about a brief mobile intervention designed to help veterans cut down on heavy drinking and overcome barriers to care. The conversation covers how BRAVE works, what the research found over 12 months, and how digital tools can complement traditional therapy for veterans and other underserved groups.
1:06:41•17 Aug 2026
Mobile Help for Veterans: How a 30‑Minute App Session Can Shift Drinking and Care
Episode Overview
- Short, mobile interventions like BRAVE can reach veterans who drink heavily but rarely seek formal care.
- Correcting myths about how much peers drink and how they view treatment can nudge veterans toward change and help-seeking.
- A single 30‑minute mobile session was linked with reduced drinking, fewer alcohol-related consequences, and higher care engagement over 12 months.
- Digital tools work best as a bridge into, and supplement for, ongoing therapy and telehealth rather than a replacement for clinicians.
- Sleep and stress-focused apps may be a more acceptable doorway into alcohol and trauma support for many veterans.
“The secret to a successful career is… to work with, find and work with nice people.”
Understand the complexities of addiction with insights from leading psychologists and one veteran-focused researcher who cares deeply about who gets left out of treatment. This conversation centres on Dr. Eric Pedersen’s work creating BRAVE, a short, mobile-based intervention aimed at US veterans who drink heavily and rarely seek formal care.
As an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of Social Behavioral Research at USC’s Institute of Addiction Science, he talks through how his VA training, family ties to military service, and respect for veterans shaped his focus on this group. You’ll hear how veterans often face stigma, logistical hurdles, fear about career impact, and simple confusion about how to access services. Dr.
As he puts it, veterans often believe others “drink a lot”, when the data show many drink moderately, and that “nine out of ten veterans that went in for care said that they really enjoyed it and really got a lot out of it.” The episode breaks down how his team recruited veterans via Facebook, kept bots out of their research, and turned a one-off, 30‑minute mobile session into measurable reductions in alcohol use, consequences, and care engagement over 12 months.
Pedersen explains how BRAVE tackles this by correcting myths about how much other veterans actually drink and what they really think about seeking help. They also talk about next steps: “BRAVE plus” add-ons, pairing apps with telehealth or in‑person therapy, and sneaking alcohol support into tools people are far more willing to accept, like sleep apps.
Along the way, trainees get a candid career tip: “The secret to a successful career is… to work with, find and work with nice people.” If you’ve ever wondered whether a simple app could genuinely move the needle for veterans who never walk into a clinic, this conversation gives you plenty to think about.
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