Carrie Renee Pilarski, PhD

Dr. Pilarski is an Assistant Professor (Clinical) and member of the adult faculty group in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.  She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Central Michigan University, and completed internship training at the James A. Haley Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Tampa, FL.  She then completed a two-year rehabilitation psychology postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan.  Within the American Psychological Association’s Division on Rehabilitation Psychology, Dr. Pilarski serves as co-vice chair of the special interest group, Rehabilitation Psychologists with Disabilities, and has served as president of the section on Women’s Issues in Rehabilitation Psychology.  She completed a three-year term for APA’s Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology and was the committee chair for 2015.  For five years, her clinical work focused on brain injury treatment using an interdisciplinary holistic neurorehabilitation approach at the Origami Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center.  In the December of 2015, she joined PM&R as the primary attending psychologist for the adult Spinal Cord Injury / Disease (SCI/D) inpatient service at the University Hospital.  She is passionate about the role of psychotherapy and psychoeducation in promoting adjustment after an acute injury.  She is interested in research on factors promoting healthy coping and development of a positive disability identity.  Dr. Pilarski is also committed to issues of accessibility and advocating for individuals with disabilities.   

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