Michael K. Schmit, Ph.D.

Interim Department Head and Professor

Michael K. Schmit, Ph.D., LPC (TX and MS), is a professor and the interim head of the Department of Counseling. As a nine-year counselor educator, Schmit enjoys working with and mentoring students who want to become counselors or counselor educators. His clinical experience spans more than 12 years working with individuals, couples and families across the life span in private practice, inpatient and community-based settings. Schmit's research interests include counseling outcomes, addictions and research in counseling. A fun fact about Schmit is that his first spoken language was Korean.

A Conversation with Dr. Schmit

What would you tell a student who is thinking about attending A&M-Commerce?

The counseling programs at A&M-Commerce are designed to prepare students for a wide variety of human service and help-profession careers, such as licensed professional counselors, licensed chemical dependency counselors, school counselors, counselor educators, higher education professionals, postsecondary education administrators and so forth. What makes the counseling programs at A&M-Commerce unique are the faculty's interest and expertise areas, the flexibility offered by having multiple campuses in the DFW metroplex, the use of in-person, hybrid and online methods of instruction and our well-rounded and accomplished students and faculty. A motto that I have held my entire career as a counselor educator is that I want to train students to become exceptional counselors, and I believe that is exactly what we do here at A&M-Commerce.

What draws you to your discipline?

While I wish I could say that I've always wanted to be a counselor, it would be a false statement. Growing up, I had no clue as to what career path I would pursue. Rather, it was through life experiences of grief and loss that I found my passion for counseling. I vividly remember my first counseling experience and the counselor who sat across from me. He exuded exactly what I teach my students—of course, unbeknownst to me at the time—the importance of establishing and maintaining a strong therapeutic alliance. I will always remember how important and valued I felt within the context of our counselor-client relationship.

What has been your favorite course to teach?

I love teaching courses in research and statistics. However, this was not the attitude I held as a master's or even a doctoral student. In fact, in my doctoral studies, I would be accurate in saying that I was fearful of research and statistics. Therefore, I made the decision in my second semester as a doctoral student to invest further in the subject area by becoming involved in research, co-teaching research and statistics courses with my professors, writing for publication and learning to be okay with the numerous mistakes I made along the way.

Tell us about a project you are currently working on or recently completed.

Along with a colleague and a group of counseling students, I’m examining the efficacy of culturally adapted cognitive behavioral Therapy (CA-CBT) in reducing the severity of symptoms for people with post-traumatic stress disorder. This project uses meta-analytic procedures to synthesize data across multiple studies performed over a 30-year period to estimate the overall effectiveness of CA-CBT. What I enjoy most about this project is mentoring students in the areas of research and statistics and helping them overcome their fears.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Counselor Education, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 2016
• M.A., Substance Abuse Counseling, University of Louisiana Monroe, 2011
• B.S., Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, 2008

Awards and Honors

• Faculty of the Year Award, Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School, 2023
• Outstanding Counselor Educator Award, Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 2021
• Research Award, Texas Counseling Association, 2021
• Outstanding Pre-Tenure Counselor Educator Award, Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 2020
• Shared Purpose Award, Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School (seven times since 2021)

Research Interests

• Research methods and quantitative statistics
• Counseling outcome research
• Integrated care treatment
• Addictions

Professional Organizations

• American Counseling Association
• Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
• Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling
• Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
• Texas Counseling Association
• Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision

Selected Publications

• Silveus, S. A., Schmit, M. K., Teles Oliveira, J., & Hughes, L. (2023). Meta-analysis of culturally adapted cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and depression. Journal of Counseling & Development, 101(2), 129-142. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12463
• . Giordano, A. L., Prosek, E. A., Schmit, E. L., & Schmit, M. K. (2022). Examining coping and nonsuicidal self-injury among adolescents: A profile Analysis. Journal of Counseling & Development, 101(2), 214–223. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12459
• Giordano, A. L., Schmit, M. K., & McCall, J. (2022). Exploring adolescent social media and internet gaming addiction: The role of emotion regulation. Journal of Addictions & Offenders Counseling. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaoc.12116
• Karaman, M. A., Schmit, M. K., & Can, N. (2022). “I Fight, I Don't Give Up Hope”: Resilience and life satisfaction among Syrian refugee university students in Turkey. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2022.2064029
• Schmit, M. K., & Giordano, A. L. (2021). Introduction to the special issue: Advancing the counseling profession through research and publication. Journal of Counseling & Development, 99(2), 119–122. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12359
• Wood, A. W., Dorais, S., Gutierrez, D., Moore, C. M., & Schmit, M. K. (2021). Advancing the counseling profession through contemporary quantitative approaches. Journal of Counseling & Development, 99(2), 156–166. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12363