RAYNA PETIKAS, Ph.D.

Clinical Psychologist & Clinical Reviewer

Dr. Rayna Petikas is a board-certified Clinical Psychologist and Executive Coach. She served seven years in the United States Navy during which time she deployed multiple times in support of overseas contingency operations for Joint Task Forces. In her final tour, she served as the Deputy Director and an Operational Psychologist at Naval Special Warfare Development Group.

Throughout her Naval career, Dr. Petikas had extensive involvement in the psychological assessment and selection of personnel for various special operations units, direct support, high-risk training instructors, joint State Department and Marine Corps embassy personnel, Maritime support vessel forces, and Air Mobility Unit Pilots. She is certified in and has supported Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) evolutions while serving at a Special Mission Unit.

Since transitioning to a civilian psychologist, Dr. Petikas continues to provide operationally focused assessment and selection, pre-employment, and special duty screenings to various Department of Defense programs and civilian entities challenged with staffing high-risk occupations. Additionally, she has opened her own private practice and continues to work as a clinical psychologist and executive coach, seeing clients in California, Virginia, New York, and Colorado.

She holds both Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Oklahoma in Psychology and Medical Sciences, and earned her Master of Arts and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Wichita State University.