Faculty Profile

Education: BA, Seattle Pacific University, 2007; MS University of Kentucky, 2014; PhD, University of Georgia, 2019. At SPU since 2019.

Stephanie joins Seattle Pacific University with diverse social service and family therapy experiences. Prior to her graduate training, Stephanie served five years on a strategic outreach team focused on housing those experiencing chronic homelessness in Los Angeles, CA. Through this advocacy work, Stephanie became interested in how families, couples, and individuals are shaped by their trauma experiences, leading her to pursue advanced degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her clinical training was conducted at university clinics in Lexington, KY, and Athens, GA, and with Project Family Georgia, LLC, an agency serving at-risk youth and families throughout Northeast Georgia.

Stephanie’s research investigates primary (PTSD) and secondary traumatic stress (STS), or traumatic stress that therapists can experience in their work with trauma clients. This research is focused nationally and internationally. Her mixed methods study of marriage and family therapists explores the prevalence of STS, examining how a therapists’ trauma work affects their relationship with their partner, and its implications will be used to improve therapist resiliency and retention. Internationally, Stephanie used the first nationally representative mental health survey following the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia to explore how trauma impacted individuals and communities. She is investigating experiences of therapists working with complex trauma in Cambodia, where there is limited family therapy training and no process for formalized licensure.

​Selected publications

Armes, S. E., Lee, J.J., Bride, B. E., & Seponski, D. M. (in press, May 2020). Secondary trauma and impairment in clinical social workers. Child Abuse & Neglect special issue Research to promote a healthy and resilient child abuse & neglect workforce. Impact Factor (2.899) http://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104540

Armes, S. E., Seponski, D. M., Koa, S., Khann, S., Lahar, C. J., Bryant, C. M., Bride, B. E., Wickrama, K. S., Bunnak, P., & Schunert, T. (2019). Exploring contextual trauma in Cambodia: A socio-interpersonal perspective of PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Armes, S. E., Muruthi, J. R., Milroy, W. H., & Mancini, J. A. (2019). Getting sorted out in East London: Vulnerability and resilience of homeless ex-Servicemen. European Journal of Homelessness.

Hinton, D., Seponski, D. M., Khann, S., Armes, S. E., Lahar, C., Kao, S, & Schunert, T. (2019). Culturally sensitive assessment of anxious-depressive distress in Cambodia: Avoiding category truncation. Transcultural Psychiatry. Impact Factor (2.28)

Jordan, L. S., Seponski, D. M., & Armes, S. E. (2019). “Oh it is a special gift”: A phenomenological analysis of therapists in Cambodia. Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Armes, S. E., Somo, C. M., Khann, S., Seponski, D. M., Lahar, C. J., Kao, S., & Schunert, T. (2018). Mental health indicators of suicide in Cambodian women. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 30, 7-18. Impact Factor (1.459)

Please view Dr. Armes' CV (PDF) for more publications.