Rate My Professor Alex Terrill

Alex Terrill, PhD, is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational and Recreational Therapies with a joint appointment in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Utah College of Health. She earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Washington State University in 2012, specializing in behavioral medicine. Following her doctoral training, she completed a clinical residency and research postdoctoral fellowship in Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington from 2012 to 2014. Terrill joined the University of Utah in 2014, where she established and directs the uSPRiNG lab—the Science and Psychology of Resilience in Neurorehabilitation Group—dedicated to promoting resilience in individuals with chronic neurological conditions, such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and traumatic brain injury, as well as their families to enhance rehabilitation, recovery, community integration, and quality of life.

Terrill's research centers on developing and testing positive psychology-based dyadic interventions to foster resilience and improve quality of life post-stroke for survivors and caregivers. Notable projects include the NIH-funded ReStoreD study (Resilience in Stroke Survivor-Caregiver Dyads), which delivers an eight-week program of home-based activities like gratitude expression, acts of kindness, and goal-setting; SupportGroove for caregiver support; and a recent Tier 4 Pilot Award-funded initiative on resilience-based aphasia research with Jaime Lee. In 2019, she was honored as one of two top researchers in the College of Health. Her scholarly contributions include over 1,963 citations, with key publications such as 'Overview of Persistent Pain in Older Adults' (American Psychologist, 2014), 'Effects of a Tailored Positive Psychology Intervention on Well-Being and Pain in Individuals with Chronic Pain and a Physical Disability' (Clinical Journal of Pain, 2016), 'Resilience, Age, and Perceived Symptoms in Persons with Long-Term Physical Disabilities' (Journal of Health Psychology, 2016), 'Development of a Novel Positive Psychology-Based Intervention for Couples Post-Stroke' (Rehabilitation Psychology, 2018), and 'Promoting Resilience After Stroke in Dyads (ReStoreD)' (Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2023). Terrill's work advances rehabilitation psychology by addressing mental health in medical populations through accessible, family-inclusive strategies.