Lunch & Learn- Forensic Clinical Psychologist and Dance Therapist
- What
- Lunch & Learn- Forensic Clinical Psychologist and Dance Therapist
- When
- 11/14/2014, 12:30 PM – 1:00 PM
- Where
- MPR Multipurpose Room
Michelle has a Bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance, Master’s degrees in Dance/Movement Therapy and Clinical Psychology, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Clinical Forensic Psychology. She has served as a dance/movement therapist, supervising therapist, clinical director, and staff development director in a wide range of mental health service environments serving groups and individuals of all ages and abilities. She has additional clinical credentials in Drama Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and yoga & meditation. Prior to entering the mental health field, she had a career as a professional dancer, choreographer, and actor in New York City and internationally. She has also worked as an educator (in public & private middle schools, high schools, and universities), an arts administrator, and in many other positions to pay the bills.
Her research interests include the development and treatment of mental illness in prison, forensic treatment applications of yoga & meditation, and forensic dance/movement therapy. Her work has been published in the American Journal of Forensic Psychology and the International Journal of Aging in Society and she currently has manuscripts under review by the American Journal of Dance Therapy, and the International Journal of Group Psychotherapy. She has been an invited presenter at the American College of Forensic Psychology’s annual symposiums and at American Dance Therapy Association annual conferences. She is a dance/movement therapist at an acute psychiatric services program located within a maximum-security, level IV prison providing treatment for adult male prisoners. Although she is on leave from her work this year while she completes her doctoral dissertation, Michelle cannot wait to go back to prison to serve those who usually feel otherwise!