About

Michelle C. Accardi-Ravid, PhD, is a Rehabilitation Psychologist in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Utah. She works across the inpatient medical rehabilitation units at the Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital with patients who have had spinal cord injuries/disorders, amputations, stroke, brain injury, transplants, cancer, and more. Her goal is to improve emotional wellness for patients, families, and teams at NRH. She also collaborates in creative ways to innovate the service. Her special interests include improving the training pipeline in Rehabilitation Psychology and mentoring on early career issues. She is the Training Director of the Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Dr. Accardi-Ravid's services are available to the inpatient units at the Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital only.

Research topics

• Psychiatry
• Medicine
• Physical therapy
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Clinical psychology
• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Internal medicine
• Anesthesia

Selected publications

• Feasibility of Brief, Hypnotic Enhanced Cognitive Therapy for SCI-related Pain During Inpatient Rehabilitation

  Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · 2023 · 6 citations

  • Medicine
  • Physical therapy
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Case Study of Hypnosis Enhanced Cognitive Therapy for Pain in a Ventilator Dependent Patient during Inpatient Rehabilitation for Spinal Cord Injury

  Journal of Clinical Medicine · 2023 · 1 citations

  • Medicine
  • Physical therapy
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation

  Early, acute pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) is common, can negatively impact SCI rehabilitation, and is frequently not responsive to biomedical treatment. Nonpharmacological interventions show promise in reducing pain for individuals with SCI. However, most psychological interventions rely heavily on verbal interaction between the individual being treated and the clinician, making them inaccessible for individuals with impaired verbal output due to mechanical ventilation. This case study aims to describe the adaptation and implementation of hypnotic cognitive therapy (HYP-CT) intervention for early SCI pain in the context of mechanical ventilation dependence and weaning. The participant was a 54-year-old male with C2 AIS A SCI requiring mechanical ventilation. Four sessions of HYP-CT were provided during inpatient rehabilitation with assessment prior to intervention, after the intervention sessions, and prior to discharge. The participant reported immediate reductions in pain intensity following each intervention session. Overall, he reported increases in self-efficacy and pain acceptance. He did not report any negative treatment effects and thought the intervention provided support during mechanical ventilation weaning. During treatment, he discontinued opioid pain medications and reported actively using intervention strategies. Our results support the potential for early, hypnotic cognitive therapy for individuals with SCI experiencing pain or distress while dependent on mechanical ventilation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Survey of internship training in rehabilitation psychology: 2019.

  Rehabilitation Psychology · 2022-07-28

  article

  PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to obtain information about psychology internship training programs involving work with individuals with disabilities receiving rehabilitation services in the United States and Canada. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: The Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) directory was used to identify 426 training programs that listed supervised experience in rehabilitation psychology, and these programs were sent a survey assessing characteristics of their internship. There were 227 program directors who responded (53%), and 114 of them reported that their internship involved working with disabled persons receiving rehabilitation services. RESULTS: The majority of training programs were at a hospital or subacute rehabilitation facility (Veteran Affairs and non-Veteran Affairs), and 41% of the programs were housed within an independent psychology department. Sixteen programs (15%) had faculty who were board certified by the American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology (ABRP). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Interns were exposed to a broad range of conditions, such as brain injuries, orthopedic, and spinal cord injuries, as well as comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders. Interns were also provided various levels of training in ABRP competencies across programs. Opportunities to improve training with rehabilitation populations at the internship level include increasing didactics related to rehabilitation psychology and increasing opportunities to work with ABRP faculty. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Substance Use

  Springer eBooks · 2021

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Clinical psychology
  • Psychiatry
  PublisherDOI

• A Qualitative Descriptive Study of Patient Experiences of Pain Before and After Spine Surgery

  Pain Medicine · 2019-04-04 · 27 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to describe the preoperative and postoperative experiences of spine surgery from the patient's perspective to help inform behavioral health services provided before, during, and after hospitalization. SETTING: Single urban academic tertiary care hospital. METHODS: Semistructured interviews with 14 adults who underwent spine surgery. Interview transcriptions were analyzed using content analysis by three investigators to identify emergent themes. RESULTS: Three broad domains with associated themes emerged from the analysis: 1) preoperative experience-preparation, worries, and expectations; 2) recovery process-activity and pain management strategies; and 3) postoperative support in recovery-family and social support. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this qualitative descriptive study can be used to guide future perioperative behavioral health services for patients undergoing spinal surgery. Establishing realistic expectations of spine surgery and a comprehensive pain management plan are essential for adequate preoperative preparation. Furthermore, family involvement in the preoperative preparation for surgery is important for support of the patient during the recovery process.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An Acute Pain Service experience initiating methadone for opioid use disorder in hospitalized patients with acute pain

  Journal of Opioid Management · 2019-07-01 · 1 citations

  article

  OBJECTIVE: Inform readers of the use of a clinical pathway that includes initiation of methadone in hospitalized patients with acute pain who have untreated opioid use disorder (OUD). DESIGN: A retrospective chart review with frequency distributions and descriptive statistics calculated to describe demo-graphic and clinical characteristics of the sample. SETTING: Urban academic hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty consecutive patients with untreated OUD cared for by the Acute Pain Service (APS). INTERVENTIONS: APS leadership spearheaded development of a clinical pathway to standardize pain management and optimize outcomes. The authors outline pathway development and describe 120 patients managed using this pathway, initiated on methadone for OUD. RESULTS: The sample included patients, average age 40 years, predominantly non-Hispanic white (74.2 percent), male (61.7 percent), unemployed (88.2 percent), and on Medicaid (84.2 percent). 96.7 percent had a history of heroin use, and 52.1 percent had engaged in previous medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Methadone or other opioids were held for signs of intoxication/sedation in 10.9 percent or for prolonged corrected QT interval in 1.7 percent. The majority received at least one other analgesic agent. For those prescribed opioids upon discharge, the average maximum morphine equivalent dose was 68.2 mg/day for approximately 3 days. 68.3 percent agreed to schedule post-discharge MAT, and of these, 68 percent attended their intake appointment. A small percentage (4.7 percent) left the hospital against medical advice. CONCLUSION: This pathway provides an example of an effective and safe response to address the opioid epidemic and pro-vide quality care to patients with OUD and pain.

  PublisherDOI

• The Nature of Trauma Pain and Its Association with Catastrophizing and Sleep

  International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · 2018-10-15 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Shelley A. Wiechman

  University of Washington

  8 shared

• Mark P. Jensen

  University of Washington

  8 shared

• Sam R. Sharar

  University of Washington

  6 shared

• David R. Patterson

  6 shared

• Hunter G. Hoffman

  Virtual Reality Medical Center

  6 shared

• I. Lesnik

  University of Washington

  5 shared

• Jason Barber

  Neurological Surgery

  4 shared

• Rebecca Dale

  University of Washington

  4 shared

Labs

• Rehabilitation Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship ProgramPI

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Rehabilitation Medicine

  University of Washington

  2016

• PhD, Psychology

  Binghamton University

  2015

• Internship/Residency, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

  University of Washington

  2015

• BA, Psychology

  University of Hartford

  2008