Dr. Arjun Bhalla is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Clinically, he serves as an attending psychologist on the Acute Pain Service at Harborview Medical Center and the pain clinic at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. He is actively involved in the training and education of psychology and anesthesiology residents and other learners. He is a member of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council at Harborview, and an associate faculty of the Harborview Injury Prevention Research Center.
He completed his clinical internship at the VA Boston Healthcare System/Boston University School of Medicine/Harvard Medical School in the Rehabilitation Psychology track and his postdoctoral fellowship in Rehabilitation Psychology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He graduated with his Ph.D. from the Clinical Health Psychology program at CU Denver in August 2020.
His interests include the biopsychosocial sequelae of traumatic injuries and acute medical events, the association between psychosocial factors and physical health (e.g., pain, sleep) and function, acute-to-chronic transition of pain, and care inequities.
Refereed Publications:
Weishaar, M., Bhalla, A., Esterov, D., Barber, J., & Bombardier, C. (In Press), An Investigation of the Causal Relationship Between Pain Intensity and Pain Interference with Depression Following Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation.
Vasterling, J. J., Bhalla, A., Franz, M. R., Kaiser, A. P., & Lee, L. O. (2025). Warzone Veteran Cognitive-Related Functional Decline and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: Relationship to Intimate Partner Stress. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. doi: 10.1037/tra0002035.
Bhalla, A., Powelson, E., Bhalla, P., & Walters, A. (2024). Examining Sociodemographic Disparities in the Use of Peripheral Nerve Blocks After Pilon Fractures. The Journal of Pain, 25(4), 39.
Bhalla, A., Bamer, A. M., Temes, C., Roaten, K., Carrougher, G. J., Schneider, J. C., ... & Wiechman, S. A. (2023). Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters as predictors of pain interference in burn survivors: a burn model system national database study. Journal of Burn Care & Research, 44(1), 27-34.
Kenny, J., Allen, E., Fredman, S. J., Renshaw, K., & Bhalla, A. (2021). Two Perspectives on Accommodation of PTSD Symptoms: Partners versus Service Members. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice
Bhalla, A., Allen, E., Renshaw, K., Kenny, J., & Litz, B. (2018) Emotional Numbing Symptoms Partially Mediate the Association Between Exposure to Potentially Morally Injurious Experiences and Sexual Anxiety for Male Service Members. Journal of Trauma and Dissociation,19, 417–430. doi: 10.1080/15299732.2018.1451976
Bhalla, A., Durham, R. L., Al-Tabaa, N., & Yeager, C. (2016). The development and initial psychometric validation of the eHealth readiness scale. Computers in Human Behavior, 65, 460-467. doi: j.chb.2016.09.015
Poster Presentations:
Chu, S. H., Bhalla, A., Segar, K., Qin, Q., Nehra, D., Rowhani-Rahbar, A., & Barnett, H. (2026, May). Mental health service use after firearm injury: A statewide cohort study. Poster presented at Western Psychological Association Annual Convention 2026, Seattle, WA, United States.
O'Brien, C. E., Wiechman, S. A., Bhalla A. (2025, April). Examining community integration as a mediator between injury-related stigma and pain interference following burn injury. Poster presented at United States Association for the Study of Pain Conference 2025, Chicago, IL, United States.
Bhalla, A., Powelson, L., Walters, A., & Bhalla, P. Examining Sociodemographic Disparities in the Use of Peripheral Nerve Blocks After Pilon Fractures (2024, April). Poster presented at the United States Association for the Study of Pain Conference 2024, Seattle, WA.
Steinmann, T., & Bhalla, A. Pain and Psychological Outcomes for Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries Following Gunshot Wound By Race, Intent of Injury, and Insurance Status. (2024, February). Poster presented at the Rehabilitation Psychology Conference 2024, Austin, TX.
Bhalla. A., & Allen, E.S. (2020, February). Service member deployment-related PTSD symptoms and female partner caregiver burden moderated by TBI status. Poster presented at the Rehabilitation Psychology Conference 2020, San Diego, CA.
Bhalla, A., Allen, E.S., & Fredman, S. (2019, February). Do female partners accommodate more to male service members’ PTSD symptoms when the service member has endured a combat-related TBI? Poster presented at the Rehabilitation Psychology Conference 2019, Orlando FL. Winner of student poster award for research highlighting women's issues in rehabilitation psychology on behalf of Division 22, Section 2
Bhalla, A., Allen, E.S., Renshaw, K., Kenny, J., & Litz, B.T. (2017, November). Emotional Numbing Symptoms Partially Mediate the Association Between Exposure to Potentially Morally Injurious Experiences and Sexual Anxiety for Male Service Members. Poster presented at the 51st annual convention of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, San Diego, CA.
Kenny, J.J., Allen, E., Bhalla, A., Soberay, K. & Renshaw, K. D. (2016, August). Partner caregiver chronic pain predicts caregiver burden above and beyond service member PTSD. Poster presented at the 124th annual convention of the American Psychological Association. Denver, CO.
Soberay, K., Allen, E., Kenny, J. J. & Bhalla, A. (2016, August). Links between chronic pain and the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide in soldiers. Poster presented at the 124th annual convention of the American Psychological Association. Denver, CO.