Stephanie H. Yu
Researcher, Clinical Psychologist, Co-Founder, & Advocate
Hello! My name is Stephanie Yu.
I am a NIMH T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where I currently work with Dr. Adrian Aguilera and Dr. Janice Tsoh.
My research integrates community-based participatory approaches, mixed quantitative and qualitative methods, and implementation science to advance the culturally-responsive development, adaptation, and implementation of interventions to support racial/ethnic minoritized communities in healing from various forms of trauma. Central to this work is understanding the impact of individual and systemic racism on racial/ethnic minoritized communities and how they heal from racial stress and trauma.
As a Chinese-Taiwanese American daughter of immigrants, my family and my community are my strength. The most important titles I hold are as a daughter, sister, partner, friend, and (almost) an aunt. I am dedicated to scholarship, advocacy, and clinical work that advances my community, as well as shared goals among structurally marginalized communities broadly whose liberation and fates are linked to ours. I share this because how I come to my work – and who I am accountable to in my work – with interracial and intersectional solidarity, is tied to who I am and the community that raised me.
Guided by this lens, I have over a decade of research, community, and clinical experiences working with structurally minoritized youth, families, and adults in community-based and medical mental health care settings.
I co-founded Unstuck: CBT Journal App so that more people can have the agency to access evidence-based tools for healing. I am also a committed mentor and educator. Through it all, I have remained dedicated to my overarching goal of advancing mental health equity for racial/ethnic minoritized broadly, and for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities specifically.
I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2024 and my B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in Psychology and Social Welfare, with double minors in Asian American Studies and Education.
Answers you didn’t know you needed:
- What I’m currently reading: “How Do You Live” by Genzaburo Yoshino
- If I could eat one dish for the rest of my life it would be: BBQ pork fried rice cooked on a wok at a night market in Taiwan
- In my free time I love: going to the gym, reading, crocheting amigurumi, cuddling with my cat Calpico, and spending time with family and friends
- Something new I’m learning: gardening!
Education & Training
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University of California, San Francisco
2024-Current
NIMH T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship
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University of Illinois, Chicago
2023-2024
Clinical Psychology Residency, Department of Psychiatry
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University of California, Los Angeles
2024
Clinical Psychology PhD
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University of California, Berkeley
2014
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Welfare
Minors in Asian American Studies and Education
Select Awards & Fellowships
2024
American Psychological Foundation (APF) Division 56 Cultivating Healing, Advocacy, Nonviolence, Growth, and Equity (CHANGE) Grant
Role: Principal Investigator
Project Title: Research as Healing: A Critical Participatory Action Research Approach to Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) Healing from Racial Trauma.
Awarded $1,500
2023
University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Dissertation Year Fellowship
Role: Principal Investigator
Project Title: Observing Community Therapist Augmenting Adaptations of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and their Implications for Care Outcomes with Racial/Ethnic Minoritized Youth. Read more
Awarded $20,000
Senior Clinical Scientist Award, UCLA
This award is designed to honor students who are integrating research and clinical activities and embodying the values of clinical science.
Awarded $500
Life Sciences Excellence in Promotion of Diversity & Inclusion Award, UCLA
This award seeks to recognize and celebrate outstanding achievements in world-class research, education, mentorship, curriculum development, and service.
Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SSCAP) Leadership Education to Advance Diversity (LEAD) Fellow
The goal of the SCCAP LEAD Institute is to provide professional development, networking, and leadership skills for graduate students and early career professionals.
Awarded $300
2022
Charles Y. Nakamura Research, Teaching, & Mentorship Award, UCLA
The Charles Y. Nakamura Research, Teaching, and Mentorship Award is given each year to a 3rd or 4th-year student in the clinical area based on their record of publications, presentations, grants, teaching and mentorship during the first few years in our graduate program.
Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SSCAP) Student Achievement Award in Research
This award seeks to recognize students who have made a significant contribution to the field of clinical child and adolescent psychology, primarily through work on a recent research project but also through teaching, mentoring, clinical work, and other forms of community engagement.
Awarded $1,000
2020
Los Angeles County Psychological Association (LACPA) Foundation Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to individuals who demonstrate working with individuals or groups of people whose mental health needs have been historically ignored or underserved.
Awarded $1,000
Patrick & Lily Okura Research Grant on Asian Pacific American Mental Health
Role: Principal Investigator
Project Title: Academic-Community Partnership: Adapting the Safe Alternatives for Teens and Youth-Acute (SAFETY-A) Intervention in Schools for Immigrant Youth. Read more
Amount: $2,750
Immigrant Youth Task Force Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship
Role: Principal Investigator
Project Title: Academic-Community Partnership: Adapting the Safe Alternatives for Teens and Youth-Acute (SAFETY-A) Intervention in Schools for Immigrant Youth. Read more
Amount: $1,500
2019
American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS)/Psi Chi Junior Scientist Fellowship
This fellowship aims to recognize outstanding research-oriented students who are entering their first year (or first semester of second year) of graduate study and to help them begin successful research programs/projects.
Awarded $1,000
Liu Yunghuo Bei Qui Memorial Fellowship, UCLA
Awarded $3,000
Graduate Summer Research Mentorship, UCLA
Role: Principal Investigator
Project Title: The Relationship between Therapist Adaptations to Evidence-based Treatments and the Quality of Treatment Delivery in Community Implementation. Read more
Amount: $6,000
