Stephanie Gangemi, Ph.D., LCSW

Stephanie Gangemi Portrait

Stephanie Gangemi, Ph.D., LCSW

Assistant Professor
Department of Social Work, UCCS

Biography

Dr. Gangemi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, College of Public Service. She is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Colorado. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Work from Smith College, a Master of Social Work from Columbia University School of Social Work, and a Bachelor of Arts from Wagner College.


Dr. Gangemi brings over fifteen years of social work practice and academic teaching experience. She brings over a decade of experience in correctional mental health at Riker's Island as well as serving as the Director of Mental Health at the El Paso County Jail. In addition to her time at UCCS, Dr. Gangemi has taught social work courses at Smith College, Newman University, Pikes Peak Community College, and Wagner College. Her clinical practice has included trauma-informed work with incarcerated people with severe and persistent mental illness, the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of personality disorders, as well as suicide prevention. Her research pertains to the training and experiences of the correctional healthcare workforce, and she became a UCCS Daniel’s Ethics Fellow in 2021 with a focus on enhancing ethics training for mental health professionals through simulation-based learning. In 2018, she was the first-place winner of the international, Seidenberg Paper Prize on proposed solutions to issues between guards and inmates.

 

Click here to view Dr. Gangemi's CV!

Research Interests

Dr. Gangemi's research is focused on healthcare in jails and prisons across the United States, with a specific emphasis on the impact of incarceration on both inmates and those who work within the criminal legal system. As a practitioner-scholar, she draws on over a decade of experience in correctional mental health, including working at Riker's Island in New York City and serving as the Director of Mental Health at the El Paso County Jail. These experiences help to inform her research. Dr. Gangemi's current research projects center on the effects of moral injury and trauma on law enforcement officers and correctional healthcare workers. In addition, she has a strong interest in trauma-informed and anti-oppressive social work practice, supervision, and education.