Episode 5: Dr. Michael Deitz

In this episode, host Dana Brookover, PhD interviews Michael Deitz, PhD about his timely, important qualitative dissertation study titled, "The Lived Experiences of Division I Student-Athletes Coping with a Season-Ending Injury ". Dr. Deitz discusses the phenomenological study's implications for college athletics, counseling, counselor education, and our personal lives.  He also shares his advice for owning your PhD journey.

Guest bio:
Dr. Michael E. Deitz earned a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020. Additionally, he is a graduate from William & Mary's Clinical Mental Health M.Ed. program. He currently works full time as a Resident in Counseling at Healthy Minds Therapy, PLLC. He is a Nationally Certified Counselor with experience in various college counseling centers and private practice.

His passions are in supervising counselors-in-training, adulthood development, interpersonal psychotherapy, and providing emotionally corrective experiences for clients. As a former NCAA Division I student-athlete and assistant coach, he also enjoys focusing research on mental health and athletics. 

He utilizes a humanistic approach to teaching and supervision which incorporates empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard in order to increase trainees’ self-confidence. Furthermore, he strives to increase awareness of interpersonal patterns and intrapersonal processes that impact the therapeutic and learning practices. 

Dr. Deitz strives to understand the lived experiences of different populations to promote advocacy for marginalized groups. He is a published author for a textbook chapter on the ethics of counseling step-families, assisted in research on the lived experiences of teachers who are mothers, and examined relationship distress as a mediator for adverse childhood experiences and mental health concerns.

Link to dissertation study: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/6469/