Melody Mickens, PhD

Dr. Mickens is a licensed clinical psychologist with a specialized practice in rehabilitation psychology and neuropsychology. She provides psychotherapy and neuropsychological assessment on the Inpatient Spinal Cord Injury Unit at the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute at Mercy Hospital. She has expertise in treating the emotional, cognitive, and social aspects of adaptation to acquired disability after spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, amputation, and progressive neurological disorders.

As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Mickens is a funded investigator who has published on facilitators of community reintegration and resilience after spinal cord injury as well as determinants of caregiver emotional wellness during progressive neurological illness and in response to COVID 19. Her research interests and collaborations are focused on expanding the use of community based participatory research models within rehabilitation populations, improving community participation after acquired disability, reducing negative mental health outcomes for caregivers and family members of individuals with progressive illness, expansion of telehealth within rehabilitation populations, and development of mobile health applications for management of mood and health behaviors after acquired injury.