Michelle Meital Sanabria

Michelle Meital Sanabria (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology PhD program at the University of Miami. Her research interests center on belonging, meaning-making, and eudaimonic well-being across cultures and communities. She is particularly interested in how individuals and communities create meaning and sustain well-being amid suffering, hardship, trauma, and grief, as well as how dominant psychological models of well-being can be expanded and culturally adapted.

Before beginning her doctoral training, Michelle conducted affective neuroscience research at Stanford University examining adolescent stress, depression, and trauma. Her subsequent work has included research on LGBTQ+ belonging and well-being and the development of community programming supporting LGBTQ+, queer, trans, Black, and Brown adults. Her current research and clinical work spans LGBTQ+ and Latinx youth and families, grief and serious illness, and meaning-centered psychological interventions. Guided by interdisciplinary perspectives from psychology, philosophy, and the humanities, she hopes to contribute to culturally responsive approaches that support meaning, resilience, and flourishing across diverse communities.