FA L C U L T Y S P O T L I G H T
Dr. Mitcham takes time to give back to the community, as well as the profession. She is honored to serve as one of the twenty-one commissioners for the Tallahassee/Leon County Commission for the Status of Women and Girls (CSWG). It brings her great pleasure to be a contributor to the Tallahassee Woman Magazine, sharing messages of empowerment and also participating in the Women Who Mean Business community and events. Dr. Mitcham has served in leadership roles within the Florida Counseling Association (FCA) as Past President of the Florida Association of Counselor Education and Supervision and President Elect of FCA in 2013 and 2014. Dr. Mitcham also serves as a CACREP Accreditation Team Chair and Member, evaluating counselor education programs at universities across the country. Dr. Mitcham is excited about serving as Chair, for the newly formed SACES Leadership Development Taskforce, spearheaded by President Natoya Hill Haskins. Through her Tallahassee based company Courageous Conversations, Dr. Mitcham helps individuals and businesses arrive at a Courageous Solution, providing consultation and training to increase the bottom line, fostering teamwork, effective communication, and appreciation for diversity. Using a solution-focused approach, Dr. Mitcham offers professional success coaching and counseling for empowerment, career advancement, image, self-esteem, diversity, professional development, high-conflict divorce, family, and relationships. Dr. Mitcham was once a featured guest on the Oprah.
DR. MICHELLE A.
MITCHAM
Michelle A. Mitcham, Ph.D., LMHC, NCC, CCMHC, CFM, is a native of Detroit, Michigan, graduate of University of Central Florida for both her Bachelor’s and Doctoral degrees in Psychology and Counselor Education and Supervision. Dr. Mitcham earned her Master’s degree at Webster University in Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling. She completed doctoral courses in Organizational Leadership. Dr. Mitcham is an Associate Professor at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University and CACREP liaison, where she coordinates the CACREP specialization accreditation for the graduate counseling programs in mental health and school counseling. Dr. Mitcham works with esteemed colleagues, recognizing that both faculty have CACREP accredited doctoral degrees and bring needed expertise, which benefit both the students, program and the pursuit of accreditation. With this said, Dr. Mitcham is honored that FAMU has been recognized as one of the eight recipients of the NBCC CACREP grants for schools pursuing initial specialization accreditation for Counselor Education programs. Dr. Mitcham reached out to the outstanding stakeholders in Tallahassee to provide letters of support to strengthen her grant proposal, knowing what a difference it would make for the community. According to NBCC August 2018 newsletter, Dr. Mitcham stated, “It is a great honor for the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), the only state Historically Black College or University (HBCU), to be awarded one of the selected 2018 NBCC CACREP grants for the College of Education’s Counselor Education program’s initial accreditation. The grant will provide the needed resources for FAMU faculty to complete the self-study, which will illuminate the high quality School Counselor and Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs offered.”
Dr. Mitcham is passionate about keeping children out of the middle of high-conflict divorce and educating parents about being a united front. This passion led her to gain extensive experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), having worked as a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, Parenting Coordinator, Child Custody Evaluator and providing expert testimony. She is endorsed by the Florida Dispute Resolution Center, Florida Supreme Court to provide training on the topic of “psychological effects of divorce on children and families,” and has presented this training in Italy and Germany to counselors serving our military families. Dr. Mitcham is passionate about mentoring women and students to success. She enjoys helping couples using the Gottman Method, trained in Levels I & II. Her research interests include leadership, multicultural competencies, diversity, empowerment, advocacy, social justice and transformational multicultural pedagogy. She was honored to deliver the keynote speech for both the 2015 and 2016 American Counseling Association’s US Virgin Islands annual conference in St. Croix and has presented numerous times at regional, national and international conferences. Dr. Mitcham’s work has been chosen and recognized by ACA as CEU for 2015. Her scholarly achievements include delivering the Presidential Session, Courageous Conversations with Women of Color in Counselor Education at the national Association for Counselors and Supervision at the conference in Philadelphia in October 2015; as well as moderating the Presidential Session, Courageous Conversations with Diverse Women in Leadership; in Chicago, October 2017, as well as the Presidential Education Session at the 2015 Florida Counseling Association Fall 2015 conference. The Association for Multicultural Counseling & Development (AMCD) sponsored the national webinar series, Courageous Conversations with Women of Color; Surviving and Thriving in 2016, created and facilitated by Dr. Mitcham. HBCU Times Winter 2019 45