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Michelle Schoenleber
michelle schoenleber

Michelle Schoenleber

Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology920-403-2979

Michelle Schoenleber is an associate professor of psychology who has an extensive background as a clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on the motivational nature of emotion and its connection with personality in the onset and maintenance of psychopathology. Much of her research examines how shame – a self-conscious emotion that people experience when unwanted outcomes are attributed to personal inadequacies – contributes to a wide range of mental and physical health outcomes (e.g., self-injurious behavior, personality disorders). As part of this work, Schoenleber is developing and examining the transdiagnostic utility of cognitive-behavioral treatments that target shame.

Schoenleber’s teaching focuses on experiential learning and building skills that can be useful in careers that involve caring for others as well as in students' everyday lives. Additionally, she teaches the writing intensive sections of general psychology, which focus on developing scientific writing skills that help students prepare for required activities in later psychology courses. She is a recipient of the Donald B. King Distinguished Scholar Award from SNC.

  • PSYC 100-WI Introductory Psychological Science – Writing Intensive
  • PSYC 212 Adult Psychopathology
  • PSYC 312 Personality Psychology
  • PSYC 345 Psychological Interventions with Lab
  • PSYC 395 Professional Issues
  • PSYC 495 Internship & Professional Issues

Schoenleber also regularly mentors students in PSYC 492 (Directed Research) and PSYC 490 (Independent Study). Reach out to her by email to complete an application to join the Personality, Emotion & Psychopathology Research Lab. (Here is the link to the lab's web page: https://peprlab.weebly.com/)

  • B.A. – Marquette University (Psychology)
  • Ph.D. – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Clinical/Community Psychology)
  • Clinical internship/post-doctoral fellowship – University of Mississippi Medical Center & G. V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center

  • Self-conscious emotions, especially shame
  • Personality and psychopathology
  • Treatment development

Schoenleber, M., Collins, A., & Berenbaum, H. (2022). Proneness for and aversion to self-conscious emotion in posttraumatic stress. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, 14, 680-687.

Schoenleber, M., Beltran, E., Peters, J. R., & Anestis, M. D. (2021). Association between shame aversion and ruminative retribution: Evidence for moderation by externalization of blame and control. Motivation & Emotion, 45, 798-808.

Cohen, R. T., Schoenleber, M., Gratz, K. L., & Tull, M. T. (2020). Emotional responses to psychiatric hospitalization among inpatients admitted with and without suicidality. Suicidology Online, 11, 53-58.

Mu, W., Schoenleber, M., Castro Leona, A., & Berenbaum, H. (2019). Body image distortion and affect following social rejection or acceptance cues. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 38, 395-408.

Schoenleber, M., Milanak, M. E., Schuld, E., & Berenbaum, H. (2018). Rating procedures for improving identification of exposure to potentially traumatic events when using checklist measures. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma, 27, 1090-1109.

Berenbaum, H., Chow, P. I., Flores, Jr., L. E., Schoenleber, M., Thompson, R. J., & Most, S. B. (2018). A test of the initiation-termination model of worry. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 9, 1-13.

Schoenleber, M. (2018). Ending the competition to better understand emotional processes in borderline personality pathology: A commentary on Gunderson et al. Journal of Personality Disorders, 32, 185-191.

Tull, M. T., Berghoff, C. R., Bardeen, J. R., Schoenleber, M., & Konkle-Parker, D. J. (2018). An initial open-trial of a brief behavioral activation treatment for depression and medication adherence in HIV-infected patients. Behavior Modification, 42, 196-209.

Schoenleber, M., & Gratz, K. L. (2018). Self-Acceptance Group Therapy: An open trial of a transdiagnostic, cognitive-behavioral treatment for shame. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 25, 75-86.

Schoenleber, M., Berghoff, C. R., Gratz, K. L., & Tull, M. T. (2018). Emotional lability and affective synchrony in posttraumatic stress disorder pathology. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 53, 68-75.

Schoenleber, M., Berghoff, C. R., Tull, M. T., DiLillo, D., Messman-Moore, T., & Gratz, K. L. (2016). Emotional lability and affective synchrony in borderline personality disorder. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, & Treatment, 7, 211-220.

Berenbaum, H., Chow, P. I., Schoenleber, M., & Flores, Jr., L. E. (2016). Personality and pleasurable emotions. Personality and Individual Differences, 101, 400-406.

Bresin, K., & Schoenleber, M. (2015). Gender differences in the prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 38, 55-64.

Schoenleber, M., Roche, M. J., Wetzel, E., Pincus, A., L., & Roberts, B. W. (2015). Development of a brief version of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 27, 1520-1526.

Schoenleber, M., Sippel, L. M., Jakupcak, M., & Tull, M. T. (2015). The role of trait shame in the association between posttraumatic stress and aggression among men with a history of interpersonal trauma. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, 7, 43-49.

Schoenleber, M., Gratz, K. L., Messman-Moore, T., & DiLillo, D. (2014). Borderline personality disorder and self-conscious emotions in response to adult unwanted sexual experiences. Journal of Personality Disorders, 28, 810-823.

Schoenleber, M., Berenbaum, H., & Motl, R. (2014). Shame-related functions of and motivations for self-injurious behavior. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 5, 204-211.

Schoenleber, M., Chow, P. I., & Berenbaum, H. (2014). Self-conscious emotions in worry and generalized anxiety disorder. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 299-314.

Manjrekar, E., Schoenleber, M., & Mu, W. (2013). Shame aversion and maladaptive eating-related attitudes and behaviors. Eating Behaviors, 14, 456-459.

Berenbaum, H., Chow, P. I., Schoenleber, M., & Flores, Jr., L. E. (2013). Pleasurable emotions, age, and life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 8, 140-143.

Schoenleber, M., & Berenbaum, H. (2012). Shame regulation in personality pathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121, 433-446.

Schoenleber, M., & Berenbaum, H. (2012). Aversion and proneness to shame in self- and informant-reported personality disorder symptoms. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, & Treatment, 3, 294-304.

Schoenleber, M., Sadeh, N., & Verona, E. (2011). Parallel syndromes: Two dimensions of narcissism and the facets of psychopathic personality in criminally involved individuals. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2, 113-127.

Schoenleber, M., & Berenbaum, H. (2010). Shame aversion and shame-proneness in Cluster C personality disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119, 197-205.