Professional training people can actually use.
Trainings, workshops, and presentations for clinicians, organizations, agencies, and community groups — plus longer, more focused intensive experiences when they're scheduled. Practical, engaging, and built for the people in the room.
“Kirk is an excellent instructor with impeccable knowledge on the course curriculum. The interactive discussions and role plays motivated me to stay focused.”
Useful. Engaging. Built for the people in the room.
I've spent more than twenty years as a counselor along with years in supervision, administration, teaching, and professional training. I've developed more than 30 original trainings and bring clinical knowledge together with conversation, storytelling, case examples, and practical application.
Clinical Trainings
Trainings for counselors, mental-health clinicians, and helping professionals designed to translate clinical ideas into something useful in actual practice.
Inquire about training →Keynotes & Presentations
Engaging presentations that combine professional experience with stories from an admittedly unusual life — counseling, professional wrestling, writing, theatre, creativity, and everything in between.
Inquire about speaking →Workshops & Group Experiences
Interactive experiences for clinicians, organizations, and community groups. These can range from focused professional-development sessions to half-day or multi-session workshops.
Discuss a workshop →Custom Trainings
Need something specific? I can develop new material or adapt an existing training for the people actually sitting in the room rather than squeezing every audience into the same presentation.
Start a conversation →“The training series was truly an experience where I was able to learn in depth about real life situations. I now feel prepared and confident that I will be able to address whatever issues come my way.”
Leave with something you can use.
I design trainings around discussion, examples, questions, and real-world application — not just information delivery.
I want people to leave understanding the subject more clearly, thinking about it differently, and knowing what to do with what they learned.
When a workshop isn't enough.
From time to time, I offer longer-format intensive experiences built around a specific idea or area of growth. The extra time gives us room for more reflection, discussion, exercises, and practical application than a typical presentation allows.
The format can change depending on the topic and audience. Some intensives may be designed for professionals; others may be created for community groups, creatives, or people who simply want more time to explore a particular theme.
These aren't permanently scheduled programs. I develop and offer them when the right idea, audience, and timing come together.
More intensives will come.
There isn't an intensive currently scheduled for public registration. When a new one is announced, you'll find the details here.
Ask About Future IntensivesSupervision grounded in relationship and real practice.
I hold the supervisory endorsement on my Ohio professional counseling license and have extensive experience providing clinical supervision.
My approach is relational, practical, and strengths-based. The work includes clinical skill, of course, but also judgment, self-awareness, confidence, ethical decision-making, and helping counselors develop a professional voice that actually feels like their own.
I'm not currently taking on new supervision relationships. I'll update this page if that changes.
Tell me what you need.
Have a training topic, workshop, conference, speaking engagement, or future intensive in mind? Send me a note with the audience, the topic, and what you're hoping people will leave with.
UNCERTAIN: Ethical Considerations for Supporting Faith Deconstructing Clients
This 3-hour continuing education workshop from Kirk Sheppard, (author of Jesus & Me: Questioning God, Life, and Everything in Between) explores the complexities of supporting clients who are deconstructing their faith, particularly within Christian traditions. Deconstruction is a deeply personal and often challenging process that involves critically examining long-held religious beliefs and practices.
The training focuses on ethical considerations counselors may encounter, such as maintaining client autonomy, navigating confidentiality in the face of family or community pressure, and addressing power dynamics inherent in religious contexts. Utilizing the Feminist Ethical Decision-Making Model, participants will learn to apply ethical frameworks that emphasize collaboration, cultural sensitivity, and empowerment.
The workshop integrates practical therapeutic approaches, including Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) to address relational disconnection, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to reframe cognitive distortions, and Narrative Therapy to help clients re-author their spiritual journey. Case studies and interactive exercises provide hands-on learning to equip counselors with tools to manage ethical dilemmas and personal biases in practice.
By the end of the training, participants will:
Understand the ethical challenges of supporting clients during faith deconstruction.
Apply feminist ethics and therapeutic frameworks to navigate these challenges.
Engage with practical strategies to foster client growth, autonomy, and well-being.
REGISTER HERE.
3 Hours of Ethics approved by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board
Approval #: MCST01258892