Michelle J. Pearce, Co-Investigator
Michelle Pearce, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). Dr. Pearce is also a clinical psychologist licensed to practice in Maryland. She researches the relationship between religion/spirituality, coping, and health, as well as the integration of spirituality into the practice of psychotherapy. She is the co-developer of the national online training program for mental health providers called Spiritual Competency Training in Mental Health. She is the author of the book Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Christians with Depression: A Practical, Tool-Based Primer. Her current research includes the development of Spiritually Integrative Cognitive Processing Therapy to treat moral injury and PSTD among Veterans and active duty military service members.
Dr. Pearce received her Ph.D. from Yale University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at Duke University Medical Center and a second fellowship in Spirituality and Health at the Duke Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health. She has a passion for the application of clinical research to improve patient care and quality of life. She is also committed to teaching and training students and health care professionals. She directs two graduate certificate programs–Integrative Health and Wellness and Science Communication–and teaches a number of graduate courses. She is also a Faculty Liaison at the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at UMB where she helps faculty members improve their teaching skills, effectiveness, and repertoire. Her areas of clinical expertise include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, spiritual and existential issues, mind-body stress reduction methods, and behavioral medicine to address the intersection of mental and physical illness.