Michelle Binder DNP, PMHNP-BC

Education

Postgraduate Certificate: Foundations in Health Professions Education, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD (2024)
DNP: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, MD (2019)
MSN: Clinical Nurse Leader, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH (2011)
BA: International Studies, Wright State University, Dayton, OH (1999)

Biography

Michelle Binder is a board-certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and active duty U.S. Air Force officer. She serves as Deputy Program Director and Assistant Professor in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Program, where she helps prepare military nurses for advanced practice and leadership roles. She also serves as Director of Clinical Education (Phase I) and maintains an active clinical practice as an Affiliate Provider with the Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Dr. Binder began her career outside of nursing, earning a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and working for several years in the civilian corporate sector before pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing through the Clinical Nurse Leader program at the University of Toledo. She joined the U.S. Air Force in 2011 as a registered nurse, serving in inpatient medical-surgical nursing and flight medicine and deploying to Kyrgyzstan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She was subsequently selected for the PMHNP program at USU, earning her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2019.

As a PMHNP, Dr. Binder served as the sole psychiatric prescriber and Officer in Charge of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) program at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. She later served as a psychiatric provider and Medical Director of the Mental Health Clinic at Yokota Air Base, Japan. In 2024, she returned to USU as a faculty member, where her work focuses on graduate nursing education, clinical training, simulation-based learning, military mental health, and the development of future military psychiatric nurse practitioners.

Career Highlights: Positions, Projects, Deployments, Awards and Additional Publications

2023: Trusted Care Hero Award, Air Force Medical Service

2021: Military Assistant, 59th Presidential Inauguration of Joseph R. Biden

2020: Daisy Award, 316th Medical Group

2019: Esprit de Corps Award, Uniformed Services University

2016: Alumna of the Year, University of Toledo College of Nursing

2013-2014: Deployment, Operation Enduring Freedom, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

MILITARY DECORATIONS: Meritorious Service Medals, Air Force Commendation Medals, Humanitarian Service Medal, Air and Space Achievement Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal

Representative Bibliography

Braybrook C, Shephard R, Wall PH, Binder MM. Cultural Competency and Implicit Bias: Decreasing Barriers to Native American and First Nation Mental Health Care. Nursing Clinics of North America. 2026;61(1):167-177. doi:10.1016/j.cnur.2025.09.006.

Binder MM, DeLeon PH, Owen RD, Moret NE. Telehealth. In: Tusaie KR, Fitzpatrick JJ, eds. Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing: Integrating Psychotherapy, Psychopharmacology, and Complementary and Alternative Approaches Across the Life Span. 4th ed. Springer Publishing Company; 2026:638-645.

Schramm JF, Seibert DC, Thompson JM, Binder MM, King Young S, DeLeon PH. Primary Care in American Samoa: How Nurse Practitioners Created a Bridge Across an Ocean. Military Medicine. 2019;184(3-4):72-77. doi:10.1093/milmed/usy219.

Szirony TA, Sopko P, Swat Masiulaniec BA, Binder MM. The Decision to Accept Hospice Services: A Qualitative Study. Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing. 2011;13(5):340-346. doi:10.1097/NJH.0b013e3182271a87.