Stephanie Torres, PhD
Assistant Professor
Educational Psychology
Pronouns: She/Hers/Ella
Contact
Building & Room:
1408 ETMSW
Office Phone:
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Stephanie Torres, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. Her program of research focuses on contexts of risk and resilience among low-income, Latinx communities, particularly Latinx families impacted by immigration-related stress. Her research emphasizes the resilience and cultural strengths among the Latinx community. She leads the FLOR (Familias Overcoming stress with Resilience) Lab at UIC, a research group dedicated to developing school-based and community-based programs that promote well-being and mental health while utilizing a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach. To that end, FLOR and The Resurrection Project, a local community agency, have developed and are piloting FIESTA (Familias Inmigrantes Empoderándose contra eStrés Tomando Acción), a 10-week intervention program led by community health workers which aims to address the stress caused by structural racism among Latinx immigrant families.
Dr. Torres also is also interested in trauma-informed care and ways to infuse trauma-informed care in educational spaces. Her clinical work focuses on addressing trauma among minoritized families and she specializes in serving bilingual, Spanish-speaking families. She is also interested in promoting clinician, researcher, and educator involvement in policy and advocacy efforts.
*Dr. Torres will not be accepting graduate students for her FLOR research lab for the 2025-2026 academic year*
Courses Taught
Child Development in Contemporary Society (EPSY 255)
Child, Family, and Community (EPSY 382)
Facilitating Healthy Development in the Context of Trauma (EPSY 471)
Affiliate Faculty Positions
Department of Psychology
Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Department of Medicine
Selected Grants
UIC's Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) Pilot Grant Program: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health UL1TR002003, Pilot Testing of a Structural Racism Intervention for Latinx Immigrant Families: Blending of Implementation Science and Community-Engaged Research, PI
Selected Publications
Torres SA. Impact of immigrant-related stress on mental health among Mexican-origin families: Implications for a shifting and complex immigration climate. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication.
Torres, S., Sosa, S.S., Toussaint, R.J.F., Jolie, S., & Bustos, Y. (2022). Oppressive Systems of Discrimination: The Impact of Discrimination on Latinx Immigrant Adolescents’ Well-Being and Development. Journal of Research on Adolescence. 32(2), 501–517.
Jolie, S., Onyeka, O., DiClemente, C., Torres, S., Richards, M., & Santiago, C. (2021). Violence, Place, and Strengthened Space: A Review of Immigration Stress, Violence Exposure, and Intervention for Immigrant Latinx Youth and Families. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 17(1), 127-151.
Deane, K., Torres, S., Richards, M., Quimby, D., Escobar, C., Zakaryan, A., Murphy, B., Zarei, P., Bautista, S., Santiago, C.D., & Bocanegra, K. (2020). Systemic and Cultural Stressors among Mexican-American Youth: Immigration, Inequality, and Acculturation. Immigrant Children: Perspectives, Challenges, and Educational Implications.
Santiago, C.D., Ros, A.M., Distel, L.M.L., Papadakis, J.L., Torres, S.A., Brewer, S.K., & Fuller, A.K. (2019). Family Coping among Mexican-Origin Immigrants: Links to Child Mental Health. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 1-13
Distel L.M.L, Torres, S.A., Ros, A.M., Brewer, S.K., Raviv, T., Kolski, C., Smith, M.L., & Santiago, C.D. (2019). Evaluating the Implementation of the Bounce Back: Clinicians’ Perspectives on a School-Based Trauma Intervention. Evidence-Based Practice in Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 4(1), 72-88.
Torres, S.A., Santiago, C.D., Richards, M., & Kaufka Walts, K. (2018). Immigration Policy, Practices, and Procedures: The Impact on the Mental Health of Latino Youth and Families. The American Psychologist, 73(7), 843-854.
Education
2019 – PhD, Loyola University Chicago, Clinical Psychology
2016 – MA, Loyola University Chicago, Clinical Psychology
2013 – BA, DePaul University, Psychology and Latin American/Latinx Studies
Licensures and Certifications
Licensed Clinical Psychologist, State of Illinois
Professional Memberships
The National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA)
Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA)
American Psychological Association (APA)
The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)