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Random Sample

Cheryl C. Munday, PhD

Professor, clinician, devoted Detroit resident and jazz lover.

2014, Vol 45, No. 4

Print version: page 24

2 min read

Cheryl C. Munday, PhD (credit:Dwight Cendrowski)
APA Style leaf logo Cite This Article in APA Style
Chamberlin, J. (2014, April 12). Cheryl C. Munday, PhD. Monitor on Psychology, 45(4). https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/random

Member since

1995

Her job

Munday is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Detroit Mercy and director of the university’s psychology training clinic, which offers psychotherapy and assessment services to adults and children as young as 3. In partnership with the university’s law school immigration clinic, the training clinic also offers services to international survivors of trauma who are seeking asylum in the United States. In addition, Munday has a private practice in the Detroit suburb of Birmingham, Mich.

Community minded

Munday is also the only clinical psychologist on the 12-member Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority Board, which manages a $645 million annual budget and oversees 40 percent of the mental health services provided in Michigan. “I consider it a privilege, and also an opportunity to contribute at a level and in a way that I haven’t had before,” says Munday, who got her start as a clinical psychologist at the Detroit Psychiatric Institute before working at the university.

Life in Motown

Despite the city’s much-publicized bankruptcy filing last year, Munday loves living in Detroit — partly because of its rich jazz scene. “The city has an unbelievable history when it comes to music,” says Munday, who attends local jazz performances with her husband, an attorney, as often as she can. But as a clinician she has seen how the city’s debt has dampened residents’ spirits, with more people coming into the clinic for stress, depression and anxiety related to job loss and dwindling finances. Seeing that stress firsthand has made her all the more committed to helping revitalize the city as a member of the mental health board. “There is still unmet need, and the need to be good stewards of public dollars is a high priority,” she says.

When she's not working

Munday enjoys traveling, booking dates at art museums and jazz clubs in every city she visits. Travel is in her blood: Munday’s father was a U.S. Army officer. She was born in Japan and lived in Europe and throughout the United States in her youth.

Why psychology?

Munday says moving frequently as an “Army brat” inspired her interest in psychology. “I had so many different experiences growing up and since then have always been not only interested in my own perspective, but in the different perspectives people have about life,” she says. She earned her undergraduate degree at Cornell University and her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan. She also appreciates how psychologists can shape their careers to align with where they are in life. “You have to work at it, but it offers that possibility in ways that other career paths may not.”

— Jamie Chamberlain

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