About
Michele DeMarco, PhD, Rev.
Michele DeMarco, PhD, Rev, is an award-winning writer and published author in the fields of psychology, trauma, health, and spirituality. She is also a professionally trained therapist, clinical ethicist, and researcher, specializing in moral injury and resilience. She is one of Medium’s Top Writer’s for Mental Health and Health, respectively, and is the author of the Psychology Today blog: “Soul Console: Healing from Moral Injury“. Her upcoming book Holding Onto Air: The Art and Science of Building a Resilient Spirit (Berret-Koehler) is being published in Fall 2023.
Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, POLITICO, The Boston Globe, The Daily News, Psychology Today, The War Horse, Medium, Elemental, Invisible Illness, Heart Support, Curious, The Ascent, and The Basement Series publications, Partners HealthCare journal, Living Well magazine, and Be Well and Life Without Baby blogs. She has been featured as a psychology and spirituality expert for MindBodyGreen, The Daily News, Integrative Practitioner, Bloomberg/WNBP Radio, Partners HealthCare, and the American Heart Association. Her non-fiction books include I’m Okay…Right Now…Really: Practices for Getting Anxiety Under Control in Real Time and Spirit Wellness. Her upcoming novel, About Others, won the national Mystery Writers of America’s Helen McCloy Award for Mystery Writing.
A native Bostonian, Michele holds master’s degrees in World Religion and Ethics, Comparative Culture and Conflict, and Psychology, via a consortium comprising Harvard University, Boston College, and Boston University. She also studied Marriage and Family therapy at Antioch University, and has done further academic coursework in creative writing, criminal justice, and law. She received her PhD in Psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies, where she also teaches Creative Nonfiction Writing and Conflict Transformation.
Her fiction credits include the Mystery Writers of America’s Helen McCloy Award for Mystery Writing, a Quill Award for an international short story contest, first place for a First Chapters Contest, a Festival of the Arts Writer’s World Award for creative non-fiction, and the Doris Bell Scholarship for creative writing. She was also a resident at Lit Camp, a juried writer’s conference and the joint venture between Litquake and the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.
When Michele is not writing, she works helping individuals, couples, families, and groups to navigate change, transform conflict, and rebuild lives in the wake of crisis or transition. She also speaks on the subjects of trauma and transition, resilience, and moral injury.
Her latest project In the Black Hours with photographer Andrew Simboli is a collection of photographic vignettes and a compendium of life stories about moral injury.
Michele lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.