John J. Whelan

John Whelan, PhD lives and practices in Nova Scotia, Canada as a clinical psychologist. A married father of three grown children, he served for nearly nine years in the Canadian Navy before heading off to university. He has worked with traumatized serving and retired military for over 30 years. He is Adjunct Professor at Mount St. Vincent University.

'Going Crazy in the Green Machine' - (2014) and -'Ghost in the Ranks'- (2016) are written from the vantage point of soldiers and veterans based on his clinical work with traumatized personnel. Narcissus Called My Name (2017) explored the incidence of narcissistic wounding (loss of specialness) and lingering mental struggles among veterans and first responders. MASK: Living in the Fracture (2025) moves beyond the accepted trauma story as the reason for veteran identity collapse. The book describes the process and the benefits and costs of identity absorption required by the military and required structural changes to help former service women and men move towards a meaningful post-military life.