Michael Handwerk, PhD

Children and Adolescents

“I utilize an integrative approach to therapy that combines evidenced-based practices from several therapeutic approaches to best meet the needs of my clients. However, any therapeutic approach is only useful if the client feels validated and valued, and believes that the strategies we discuss can be effective. To that end, establishing a strong rapport and collaborative relationship with patients and their families is crucial to the therapeutic process. As I primarily work with children and adolescents, I incorporate parents into my sessions as I believe that for improvements to generalized beyond the walls of the therapy room, parents need to be involved in their children’s treatment.”

After receiving his doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997, Dr. Handwerk began his career at Boys Town, a residential treatment facility in Omaha, NE, where he spent 10 years running the Clinical Services Department. Dr. Handwerk has been published in more than 30 professional journals and books, and has given numerous professional talks. Before leading an area behavioral healthcare system, Dr. Handwerk was the coordinator for Outpatient Behavioral Health at Harrisburg Medical Center in southern Illinois where he conducted outpatient therapy for 11 years with children, adolescents, and families.

Dr. Handwerk’s Areas of Focus Include:

Anger management; anxiety; depression; child development; obsessive-compulsive disorder; parent-child interactions; school behavior; self-harm; oppositional defiant disorder; ADD/ADHD; school refusal; enuresis/encopresis; social skills; and trauma