BYLINE: Mike Lucas
Daniel Muhlbach is pouring the same effort and determination that drove him to become a Navy diver chief into his journey through higher education and helping others with mental wellness.
The military veteran – a specialist in underwater salvage, repair and special operations support – has been on a five-year academic deep dive at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, where the Marlboro, N.J., resident is pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. Muhlbach, whose wife Jennifer is director of operations for applied behavior analysis company Little Green Tugboat in New York, graduates in May 2027.
The 48-year-old, who has pivoted from a nearly 24-year military career to focus on providing essential mental health services to the underserved and those in need, holds a bachelor’s of arts degree in psychology from Ashford University (now known as the University of Arizona Global Campus) and a master’s of arts degree in special education with a concentration in applied behavior analysis from Arizona State University. Muhlbach earned both degrees taking online courses while serving in the U.S. Navy.
Near the end of his military service, Muhlbach wanted to pursue a doctoral degree. Rutgers granted him an interview to make that happen.
“That was it. I knew that if you give me an opportunity to talk, to meet you face-to-face, I’m going to convince you that you need me there,” said Muhlbach, a father of two sons – A.J., 19, a freshman at Hood College, and Hudson, 17, a junior at Marlboro High School – and daughter Piper, 14, an eighth grader at Marlboro Middle School.
During the interview, “I met so many awesome people, so many awesome faculty, and I got the acceptance letter before I retired, and that shaped everything since then in early 2021 until now,” added Muhlbach, who left the Navy on May 28, 2021, after 23 years, nine months and 25 days of service.
His former academic adviser, Angelica Diaz-Martinez, now the associate vice provost for the transition of the Division of Continuing Studies at Rutgers-New Brunswick, said Muhlbach “represents a rare and powerful synthesis of lived experience and academic excellence.”
“I think he’s an amazing person,” said Diaz-Martinez, formerly the director of clinical training and program director for the clinical psychology doctoral program at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. “Dan has endured things that most people do not and he has been able to take all of those experiences and channel them to become a clinical psychologist.”
Diaz-Martinez, who was a committee member on Muhlbach’s dissertation, said he serves “as a de facto mentor for his peers, helping them navigate the stresses of doctoral training while balancing his own responsibilities as a father and husband.”
She added that Muhlbach also has served as a representative to the New Jersey Psychological Association, “ensuring that student voices are heard at the leadership level, advocating for resources and professional connections.”
Initially focused on helping military veterans with mental wellness, Muhlbach said he found himself “pulled into” the newly opened Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services as his initial practicum during his first year at the university. There he worked with Christopher Manente, a decorated U.S. Army veteran who is the executive director of the center and an associate professor of clinical practice with the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology.
“That was great because it was familiar,” said Muhlbach, adding that he experienced the center’s expansion and evolution firsthand. “I’m like, ‘OK, I know this process.’ All of these things started to kind of unfold for them, and I got to be there at the unveiling of it. I loved it and I created these great relationships.”
At first, his advanced education goals didn’t involve psychology.
“I was looking at physical therapy,” said Muhlbach, who during a Navy stint in Hawaii volunteered to work with athletes with disabilities through the Navy Safe Harbor Foundation. “I was looking at some med school programs. I looked at some engineering courses because they married very well with a lot of the underwater engineering-type things that I got to work with as a diver. I looked at so many different things, but it always kept coming back to the biggest gaps that veterans like me encounter either in their career or after their career, which is significant depression, anxiety and even suicidality.”
Muhlbach faced obstacles and setbacks on his path to becoming a Navy diver. He developed a staph infection in his right knee in 2005 during dive school – but said certain officers helped him negotiate choppy waters at critical junctions and encouraged him to persevere.
“I call these lightning-bolt moments where I have this interaction with a person that changes my trajectory to the goals that I’ve been looking to do,” he said.
Muhlbach, who attends events at the Rutgers Veterans House as time allows, said his military experience and the gaps he observed in health and wellness services drove him to find a way to give back and help veterans and others in need.
In September, Muhlbach begins a yearlong internship in New York at Rusk Rehabilitation, a rehabilitation center for adults and children that is part of the New York University-affiliated NYU Langone Medical Center. The program – which consists of a six-month outpatient rotation and a six-month inpatient rotation – incorporates aspects of clinical, health, neuropsychology and family systems theory, a psychological framework that views family as an interconnected emotional unit rather than a collection of separate individuals.
His plans after graduation?
“As of right now, pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology is the primary goal,” said Muhlbach, a member of the Rutgers chapter of the Association of Neuropsychology Students and Trainees. “Looking at becoming a board-certified clinical neuropsychologist is also part of that extended goal, with more focus on rehabilitation neuropsychology.”