Stephanie Agtarap, Ph.D., MS received her degrees in Experimental Psychology/Behavioral Science from the University of North Texas in 2017. She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of California San Diego with the TRACK-TBI study before working at the Naval Medical Center San Diego assessing how TBI sequelae overlap with mental health symptomology.

She has ten years of clinical rehabilitation research experience in acute care, trauma, and rehabilitation centers. Her primary research focuses on internal (coping, appraisals) and external (social, environmental) factors in optimal psychosocial adjustment following traumatic brain injury. She has won several awards for her work from APA Division 22 Rehabilitation Psychology, Anxiety, and Depression Association of America,  National Neurotrauma Society, and was a 2023-2024 NIDILRR Switzer Fellow. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Colorado Advisory Council on Brain Injury.

Dr. Agtarap’s currently funded research program includes a longitudinal study of resilience-related factors that reduce mental health risk and promote posttraumatic growth in the first 18 months following TBI, and several pilot studies evaluating caregiver readiness among family members and the clinical utility of therapeutic recreation as part of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation.

Research Interests:

Development of posttraumatic growth and models of thriving following traumatic injury
Redevelopment of identity, self-concept, and self-efficacy following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury
Overlap of TBI sequelae with psychological distress symptomology and other comorbid health conditions

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