The Intentional Clinician: Psychology, Philosophy, and Therapy Paul Krauss MA LPC

From early labels like “kindergartner” or “English-language learner” to later designations such as “honor roll student,” how do categories assigned in school affect a young person’s life? Paul Krauss MA LPC speaks with Dr Emily K Penner and Dr Andrew M Penner about their new book “Schooled and Sorted: How Educational Categories Create Inequality.” 
Schooled and Sorted: How Educational Categories Create Inequality, a new book by Andrew M. Penner, UC Irvine professor of sociology; Emily K. Penner, UCI associate professor of education; and Thurston Domina, professor of educational policy and organizational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Also discussed: What messages are students getting from their schools when they are divided into categories, what types of categories are there, Who makes the decisions that affect students, the history of schooling in the United States, social categories, instructional categories, a trauma-informed perspective, contradictions, how can educational institutions make more equitable choices, some examples of problematic categories in education that tend to advantage some students over others, What practical steps can higher education practitioners take to address issues of inequality stemming from educational categories & sorting, etc. 
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Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, and Counseling Supervisor. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (in progress) as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today. Questions? Call the office at 616-200-4433. 
If you are looking for EMDRIA consulting groups, Paul Krauss MA LPC is now hosting weekly online and in-person groups.  For details, click here.
For general behavioral and mental health consulting for you or your organization.
Follow Health for Life Counseling- Grand Rapids:
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 Original Music:
”Alright" from the forthcoming album Mystic by PAWL (Spotify)
“Show Me How” from Oncle Jazz by Men I Trust (Spotify)
“Sugar” from Untourable Album by Men I Trust (Spotify)

Barbara Lane speaks with Paul Krauss MA LPC about her extraordinary true story of living in the foster care system, suffering abuse, healing, and reuniting with her sisters after 43 years of separation.
At three, orphan life with my sisters wasn't bad--it was basically all I knew. Love filled the void left by our parents. But our separation shattered that love and we were lost in the system and separated for most of our lives. The pain lingered for 43 years until a miraculous discovery and reunion occurred. "Broken Water" tells my story - surviving foster care abuse while searching for my sisters. It's a journey of reunion, shared histories of hardship, and a testament to resilience, sisterhood, and faith.
 
In her writing, Rev. Barbara Lane incorporates her experiences as a foster kid, educator, ministerial counselor, speaker, entrepreneur, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and author. Barbara de-stigmatizes the fate of child abuse survivors by sharing her own story, which inspired her to create "Broken Water." In addition to her 25 years of experience working as a ministerial counselor in private practice, Barbara is inspired to share her knowledge of related topics by her education in human development, social sciences, and family psychology with a focus on child abuse. These topics include the family, family separation, the foster care system, attachment and bonding, child maltreatment, relationship formation, the human spirit's resiliency, healing from trauma, and the strength that comes from believing in a force bigger than oneself. 
 
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Looking for excellent medical billing services? Check out Therapist Billing Services. A behavioral and mental health billing service developed by therapists for therapists.
Preview an Online Video Course for the Parents of Young Adults (Parenting Issues)
EMDR Training Solutions (For all your EMDR training needs!)
Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, and Counseling Supervisor. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (in progress) as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today. Questions? Call the office at 616-200-4433. 
If you are looking for EMDRIA consulting groups, Paul Krauss MA LPC is now hosting weekly online and in-person groups.  For details, click here.
For general behavioral and mental health consulting for you or your organization.
Follow Health for Life Counseling- Grand Rapids:
Instagram   |   Facebook     |     Youtube
 Original Music:
”Alright" from the forthcoming album Mystic by PAWL (Spotify)
"Time (You and I) " from Mordechai by Khruangbin (Spotify)

Brittani Decess, LLPC speaks with Paul Krauss MA LPC about the importance of relationship counseling programs for the LGBTQIA+ community in the lives of those involved in a relationship as well as the community that surrounds them. Brittani and Paul discuss the current offerings of a Premarital & Commitment Relationship Counseling Program for LGBTQIA+ Couples and a Healthy Relationship Dynamics program for LGBTQIA + Couples (for those who have been together for a time).  Also discussed: What each program entails, why they can be effective, the research surrounding couples therapy in the LGBTQIA+ community, why health insurance doesn't cover couples counseling, Research and Literature by Julie Tilsen and Joe Kort, Drs. Julie and John Gottman's love lab, existential couples therapy, solution-focused couples therapy, and more.
All Relationship Programs at Health for Life Counseling in Grand Rapids, MI are listed here.
How many queer folks want examples of healthy queer relationships, instead of toxic ones? In the 1990s a lot of the movies involved one of the members of a queer couple dying. 
Stereotypes dealing with (Lesbian too much commitment. Gay men are switching too much). People joke about them. It’s common among people to have all sorts of different diverse relationship attachment style. 
Pressure on the LGBTQIA+ community to get married, and prove “to the community” that our relationships also have love, commitments, sacredness and thus there is pressure.
Why did you create these programs?
Little to no premarital counseling programs designed for queer relationships in the Grand Rapids, MI area
Only a handful of therapists and group practices that are trauma informed and affirming of LGBTQIA+ folx
To provide representation that queer couples and those who may be partnered with someone that may not be straight also are deserving of the same services the straight people have access to

Brittani Decess, LLPC is a mental health therapist at Health For Life Counseling and has been practicing since September 2021.  Brittani identifies as a queer cis-gendered white female and uses she/her pronouns . Brittani has worked with a variety of individuals and families across the life span using talk and creative therapies to aid clients in healing and processing. Brittani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art Therapy and a Master’s Degree in Counseling with a focus on Marriage, Couples, and Families. Brittani is also continuing training in EMDR techniques and Couples Therapy Modalities. Brittani has several years of trauma-informed work including facilitating a Cognitive-Behavoral-Therapy curriculum to youth in court system, being a public speaker and educator on topics related to sexual assault and domestic violence, and counseling children, teens, and caregivers moving through the adoption and foster care system before coming to Health for Life Counseling- Ada, MI. Brittani specializes in topics and issues related to lifespan changes/transitions, trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship dynamics (couples, families, and other relationship groupings), attachment, communication, self-esteem, LGBTQ+ experiences , sexuality and intimacy, and impacts of unhelpful social narratives. Brittani approaches therapy by working towards processing the meaning of experiences by exploring the intersectionality of cultural identities and how connections to people, places, and events have impacted the client(s) mental health and other areas most important to them.
Get involved with the National Violence Prevention Hotline: 501(c)(3)
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Looking for excellent medical billing services? Check out Therapist Billing Services. A behavioral and mental health billing service developed by therapists for therapists.
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EMDR Training Solutions (For all your EMDR training needs!)
Paul Krauss MA LPC is t

Brittani Decess, LLPC speaks with Paul Krauss MA LPC about the importance of relationship counseling programs in the lives of those involved in a relationship as well as the community that surrounds them. Brittani and Paul discuss the current offerings of a Premarital Counseling Program and a Relationship Maintenance Counseling Program (for those who have been together for a time).  Also discussed: What each program entails, why they can be effective, the research surrounding couples therapy, why health insurance doesn't cover traditional couples counseling, Drs. Julie and John Gottman's love lab, existential couples therapy, solution-focused couples therapy, and more.
All Relationship Programs at Health for Life Counseling in Grand Rapids, MI are listed here.
How many adults out there wish that their parents had enrolled in a relationship counseling program?
For instance, many people have a “great relationship” on the surface–Bill and Suzy….always out….always having fun….holding hands….but at home…Bill lives in the garage and continues to work on the dead car… and Suzy is secretly drinking because of her resentment toward Bill and reading romance books. 
Relationships affect how you feel inside with yourself and others.
Brittani Decess, LLPC is a mental health therapist at Health For Life Counseling and has been practicing since September 2021.  Brittani identifies as a queer cis-gendered white female and uses she/her pronouns . Brittani has worked with a variety of individuals and families across the life span using talk and creative therapies to aid clients in healing and processing. Brittani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art Therapy and a Master’s Degree in Counseling with a focus on Marriage, Couples, and Families. Brittani is also continuing training in EMDR techniques and Couples Therapy Modalities. Brittani has several years of trauma-informed work including facilitating a Cognitive-Behavoral-Therapy curriculum to youth in court system, being a public speaker and educator on topics related to sexual assault and domestic violence, and counseling children, teens, and caregivers moving through the adoption and foster care system before coming to Health for Life Counseling- Ada, MI. Brittani specializes in topics and issues related to lifespan changes/transitions, trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship dynamics (couples, families, and other relationship groupings), attachment, communication, self-esteem, LGBTQ+ experiences , sexuality and intimacy, and impacts of unhelpful social narratives. Brittani approaches therapy by working towards processing the meaning of experiences by exploring the intersectionality of cultural identities and how connections to people, places, and events have impacted the client(s) mental health and other areas most important to them.
Get involved with the National Violence Prevention Hotline: 501(c)(3)
Donate
Share with your network
Write your congressperson
Sign our Petition

Looking for excellent medical billing services? Check out Therapist Billing Services. A behavioral and mental health billing service developed by therapists for therapists.
Preview an Online Video Course for the Parents of Young Adults (Parenting Issues)
EMDR Training Solutions (For all your EMDR training needs!)
Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, and Counseling Supervisor. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (in progress) as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today. Questions? Call the office

This episode features Paul Krauss MA LPC and Dr. Richard Brockman, MD in conversation about Dr. Brockman’s story of loss, healing, and piecing together the self. Psychiatrist, playwright, and survivor Richard Brockman delves into his childhood trauma in Life After Death: Surviving Suicide. This deeply personal exploration weaves loss, resilience, and the power of storytelling through a man fractured, then reforged.
Richard Brockman, MD, is a clinical professor in the department of psychiatry at Columbia University and a visiting professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Namibia. He has been honored with the Nancy C.A. Roeske Award for medical student education by the American Psychiatric Association and with the Victor J. Teichner Visiting Scholar Award from the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry for his teaching. Also a playwright, his shows have been produced both off-Broadway and on international stages. Pick up Life After Death: Surviving Suicide today. 
“Once we had a language that included a past and a present and the future, once we could think about what had happened and transfer information to people about what might therefore happen, we were going to be telling stories.” - Margaret Atwood
Get involved with the National Violence Prevention Hotline: 501(c)(3)Donate
Share with your network
Write your congressperson
Sign our Petition

Looking for excellent medical billing services? Check out Therapist Billing Services. A behavioral and mental health billing service developed by therapists for therapists.
Preview an Online Video Course for the Parents of Young Adults (Parenting Issues)
EMDR Training Solutions (For all your EMDR training needs!)
Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, and Counseling Supervisor. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (in progress) as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today. Questions? Call the office at 616-200-4433. 
If you are looking for EMDRIA consulting groups, Paul Krauss MA LPC is now hosting weekly online and in-person groups.  For details, click here.
For general behavioral and mental health consulting for you or your organization.
Follow Health for Life Counseling- Grand Rapids:
Instagram   |   Facebook     |     Youtube
 Original Music:
”Alright" from the forthcoming album Mystic by PAWL (Spotify)
“Everybody Hurts” from Automatic for the People by R.E.M. (Spotify) 
 

Paul Krauss MA LPC and Laurie Belanger LCSWR speak about the foundations of what Trauma-Informed Care really means in the context of our greater society, not just mental health practice or trauma therapy. Laurie and Paul discuss the intersections of Trauma-Informed Care and change in greater society
This is a different way of approaching human behavior and it really ought to help us question, reorganize or even dismantle many of our institutions of care (medical, educational...for starters) and build something better. That may sound a bit ambitious, yet it becomes pretty clear once you begin unpacking the core concepts of Polyvagal Theory.
Neuroscience and Trauma therapists agree: It's something like a ‘Windows update’ for "being a human.” We are living in a very strange time in history. We actually have the knowledge that we need to create more compassionate and science backed care and education of every member of society. Yet we are falling farther and farther behind in many real spaces. Much of it comes down to systems that were not designed with emotional safety in mind as being important for learning or healing  physical health issues. Fear of change keeps broken systems in place. This means that trauma-informed providers and educators are out here in society trying to share and equip a community working from within systems that were not designed to work that way. 
Rather than become discouraged, Laurie Belanger LCSWR is talking about it. As citizens, the steps we can all take from within the outdated systems we are working within. We are talking about the possibilities of someday re-inventing the systems that no longer serve us.
Laurie Belanger LCSWR is a licensed Clinical Social Worker & Trauma Psychotherapist in New York State. With a bachelors in Psychology from Moravian University and a Masters in Social Work from The University at Buffalo Graduate School of Social work, Laurie continues to pursue a lifetime of advanced learning attending conferences and training herself on the advances continuing to be made in the field of trauma, social work and psychology.
Get involved with the National Violence Prevention Hotline: 501(c)(3)
Donate
Share with your network
Write your congressperson
Sign our Petition

Looking for excellent medical billing services? Check out Therapist Billing Services. A behavioral and mental health billing service developed by therapists for therapists.
Preview an Online Video Course for the Parents of Young Adults (Parenting Issues)
EMDR Training Solutions (For all your EMDR training needs!)
Paul Krauss MA LPC is the Clinical Director of Health for Life Counseling Grand Rapids, home of The Trauma-Informed Counseling Center of Grand Rapids. Paul is also a Private Practice Psychotherapist, an Approved EMDRIA Consultant , host of the Intentional Clinician podcast, Behavioral Health Consultant, Clinical Trainer, and Counseling Supervisor. Paul is now offering consulting for a few individuals and organizations. Paul is the creator of the National Violence Prevention Hotline (in progress) as well as the Intentional Clinician Training Program for Counselors. Paul has been quoted in the Washington Post, NBC News, Wired Magazine, and Counseling Today. Questions? Call the office at 616-200-4433. 
If you are looking for EMDRIA consulting groups, Paul Krauss MA LPC is now hosting weekly online and in-person groups.  For details, click here.
For general behavioral and mental health consulting for you or your organization.
Follow Health for Life Counseling- Grand Rapids:
Instagram   |   Facebook     |     Youtube
 Original Music:
”Alright" from the forthcoming album Mystic by PAWL (Spotify)
“Zoom Zoom” from Caravelle by Polo & Pan (Spotify) 
“Canopee’ ” from Caravelle by Polo & Pan (Spotify)