Michael Chen, PhD

Rev. Michael S. Chen, Ph.D., is a Marriage and Family Therapist, ordained minister, and longtime facilitator at the Allender Center, where he has served as an NFTC Group Facilitator and Principal Instructor, in addition to guest lecturing as a subject matter expert on trauma and narrative work.

Michael holds a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Eastern University, where his dissertation examined posttraumatic growth and narrative methodology, an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Sociology from Dartmouth College. His scholarship and teaching sit at the intersection of theology, psychology, and trauma studies, and he has written on epistemology, embodiment, and the shifting landscape of cross-cultural therapeutic practice. He also brings pastoral and cross-cultural leadership experience, including work supporting racial trauma curriculum development and campus ministry.

When he isn’t parsing narrative theory or writing on posttraumatic growth, Michael is trying to convince his swimming self that racing the 200m breaststroke is a reasonable life choice — proof that he’s just as interested in embodied suffering in the practical sense as in the theoretical one.

He lives in Philadelphia, PA with his wife, Rachael; their two sons, Jamison and Silas; and their daughter, Evelyn.