Stephen Thomas Wegener (born November 20, 1952) is an American rehabilitation psychologist specializing in the psychology of pain management.^[1] His work seeks to improve function and reduce disability for persons with chronic illness and impairments, including occupational injuries, rheumatic disease, spinal cord injury or limb loss. He also develops cognitive-behavioral therapy and self-management to prevent or mitigate pain associated with disability, and examines psychological variables that can affect positive outcomes.

Life and career

Wegener was born in St. Louis, MO and moved to Easton, Maryland in his late childhood. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 1975 from Loyola College (now Loyola University Maryland). While there he was a member of the National Jesuit Honor Society and won the Whelan Psychology Medal. He completed a doctorate in clinical psychology at St. Louis University. He taught at University of Virginia before taking a position at Johns Hopkins.^[2][3] Wegener is currently Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Psychology at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.^[4]

In 2001 he was Distinguished Lecturer at the American College of Rheumatology /Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals Annual Scientific Meeting. In 2004 he was visiting professor at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital and at University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He is on the board of the American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology since 2002 and has served as vice president since 2007. Wegener lectured in the Department of Rehabilitative Science at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2008. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 2008–2009.

Selected publications