Michael Zuch

Michael is a scholar-practitioner whose research focuses on the experiences of immigrants and refugees, with particular attention to how child welfare systems and immigration policies structure health outcomes. He also examines how Eurocentric developmental science and trauma frameworks are taken up in clinical practice and social policy, and how they can both support and constrain culturally responsive, anti-oppressive care. His work explores how systemic inequalities shape family life and experiences of care, with the hope of generating community- driven knowledge that resists punitive systemic responses and promotes epistemic justice.

As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Michael has worked and consulted in the Southeastern U.S., Austria, and Myanmar, with a focus on trauma therapy and attachment-based care for children, youth, and families—particularly within LGBTQ+ and migrant communities. He is a Certified EMDR Therapist with additional training in Narrative Exposure Therapy, play therapy, and attachment-focused family therapy. He also served as co-founder and managing director of a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to affirming mental health care for LGBTQ+ individuals in Tennessee through community organizing.