Michael J. Schultz, Ed.D.
Licensed Psychologist • Family Therapist • Author • Systems Consultant • Trainer
I am grateful we do not walk alone. I believe in the power of teams and the strength of transforming from ‘me-to-we’ personally, professionally, and organizationally.
Welcome!
I believe that a consultant’s job is to create the weather for healthy change, while offering reasonable alternatives to the assumptions and certainties that often hinder healthy minds, bodies, and relationships.
I respect that your job as a client is to make decisions about your life and relationships. I assert that your decisions are enriched by reliable and safe psychological spaces that bring forth novel ways of thinking and being. Inroads of change can then be collectively constructed to build upon your unique qualities and best hopes, by binding expanded thinking with tangible action steps.
Most importantly, I hold firm to the adage that a successful consultant is an absent consultant.
Coaching, Training & Consultation
I offer coaching, training, and consultation to a wide range of professional organizations, and tailor each session to the request and needs of the agency or work group.
I utilize several systemic methods, depending on the needs of organizations, including: structured critical incident debriefing; facilitated conversations about global stress and race relations; live case consultation; video demonstration; outdoor adventure-based group work; and an assortment of experiential exercises that promote teambuilding, leadership, crisis intervention, conflict resolution, and wellness. My academic experience and resume are available upon request.
Systems Consultation Training for Educational and Human Services Organizations
The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) and I have partnered to offer educational and human services organizations with a variety of tailor-made resources related to primary and secondary traumatic stress, crisis intervention and support, coaching and mentoring, community healing, mediation, teambuilding, health, and wellness. These services are based on the principles and practices outlined in my book, Systems Consultation When Trauma Strikes: Stories of Hope, Collaboration, and Change.
Virtual Training Series
2024 dates coming soon!
Crisis Assessment and Intervention When Gun Violence and Trauma Strikes: A Five-Step Approach to Foster Hope, Collaboration, and Change
This 4-part training series was developed as part of the evolving collaboration between Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence (TU) and CWLA. The purpose of these trainings is to offer education and guidance to interdisciplinary professionals across the country who are confronted with gun violence and threats to school safety in their local districts and communities.
To learn more about the content, structure, and process of this training series, I invite you to review the comprehensive summary from our recent sessions.
Teachers Unify is a grassroots movement of educators across America whose mission is to empower its constituents and supporters to demand that communities are safe from gun violence.
Teachers Unify bridges the gap between the education and gun violence prevention spaces by communicating the realities of gun violence in our schools and communities.
With more than 75 years of teaching experience among its founders, Teachers Unify intends to fill a gap in the national dialogue around gun violence that has too long excluded teachers.
“Anyone who works in human services knows the value of a healthy work environment. Dr. Schultz’s empowering approach to organizational crisis intervention and group facilitation is creative and experiential, and this book is an essential guide for organizations that strive to foster a culture of resiliency, even in the midst of a crisis, by way of hope, collaboration, and change.”
— Christine Lynn Norton, Ph.D., LCSW
Professor, School of Social Work, Texas State University
Systems Consultation When Trauma Strikes: Stories of Hope, Collaboration, and Change
My book is about crisis assessment and intervention with groups experiencing trauma and intensive personal stress. Case studies illustrate the use of a Five-Step Approach to support administrators, practitioners, and consultants when confronting crisis and trauma in their communities and organizations.
There are three primary goals for the reader:
discovery of a hopeful view of possibilities for change through collaboration and enduring respect for those experiencing crisis and trauma;
guidance in effective methods to produce change and transformation; and
professional use of self as an instrument of change.
Why Write a Book?
I was interviewed by the editor of Children’s Voice, CWLA’s magazine covering national, state, and local news and issues that affect children, youth, and families.
I wrote the book because the helping professionals in public and private agencies, across disciplines, are confronted with exhaustive interpersonal stress, trauma, and tragedy every day. I strive to make their voices and experiences visible by sharing my own impressions and stories about crisis assessment and intervention by shining a light on possibilities for stability, resilience, and reflective learning.
Quite simply, I aim to honor and validate these unsung persons and believe that systems consultation is a unique form of service to those who are called upon to educate, protect, and support others.
Big News!
I am delighted to share that our book was selected as a winner in Graphic Design USA’s 58th Annual Design Competition.
I am grateful for the incredible team of professionals who worked to bring the book to publication, and whose collaboration and creativity shine on every page!
A Little More About Me
I am a licensed psychologist, family therapist, and systems consultant, practicing for more than 40 years as an administrator, clinician, group facilitator, and university professor in public and private settings throughout New England and many regions of the United States.
I have conducted numerous educational forums, workshops, and crisis intervention services across professional disciplines with businesses, child welfare organizations, healthcare facilities, law enforcement agencies, schools, state agencies, and others.
In addition to my book, I am the author of several articles and book chapters related to child welfare, family systems medicine, outdoor education, organizational leadership, and primary and secondary traumatic stress.
I reside in and work out of Farmington, Connecticut and North Truro, Massachusetts.
I come from a family of storytellers. My clinical lens and professional way of being draws from these intergenerational stories of hope, connection, and resilience, and serve as a foundation for empowering others in the process of change.
Never mistake activity for achievement.
—John Wooden
UCLA Basketball Coach & Teacher
“Oh, Michaelooch. This is very good junk!”
—my Paboose
“Dr. Schultz describes for the reader how to apply therapeutic technique while incorporating the human touch. Throughout the book, he displays thoughtfulness, kindness, and a genuine admiration for those in need of support; while at the same time, having a keen eye for what is needed to help individuals and groups through crisis. His stories allow the reader to ‘walk in his shoes’ and his framework provides detailed examples of how to do the work of hope, collaboration, and change.”
— Abdul-Rahmaan I. Muhammad, LMSW
Executive Director
My People, Hartford, CT, and
— Dayeshell P. Muhammad, Ph.D.
Director of Operations
My People’s Clinical Services, Hartford, CT
“Imperfect human beings beget imperfect human service systems. Michael Schultz demonstrates how empathy towards the flaws among us patches up and strengthens individuals and systems to help, to heal, and to set paths for positive change. In a personal and engaging style, he offers his story as a prompt for the reader to contemplate their own. His writing is listening. Dr. Schultz demonstrates that human systems, whether parents and children or complex bureaucracies, are all, ultimately, family units calling upon aunts and uncles for guidance and support. Each thrives upon understanding, inclusion, networking, and safe spaces where resilience is born. Written for the consultant and practitioner—a must read for anyone who works in child welfare.”
— Moira O’Neill, Ph.D.
Child Advocate, State of New Hampshire
Let’s Have a Conversation.
Please use this form to reach out. I look forward to speaking with you soon!
CWLA is a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies that since 1920 has worked to serve children and families who are vulnerable. Our expertise, leadership and innovation on policies, programs, and practices help improve the lives of millions of children across the country. Our impact is felt worldwide.
