JOY R. SAMUELS, D.MIN., LPC-MHSP, NCC, has over 25 years’ experience as a licensed professional counselor, Fellow in Thanatology, chaplain, and ordained minister. She teaches in the graduate clinical mental health psychology department at Lipscomb University and at Candler School of Theology at Emory University in the United Methodist Church Course of Studies.  She maintains a private counseling practice and supervises those seeking licensure as a LPC-MHSP.

Dr. Samuels holds D. MIN. and MDIV. degrees from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Additionally, she holds an M.S. degree in counseling psychology from California State University, Northridge, CA, and a counseling certificate in substance abuse from the Northern Virginia Community College, Annadale, VA. Among her areas of expertise are individual, couples and family counseling, trauma and bereavement, and post-masters supervision.

Paul Brasler, MA, LCSW, has worked in the social work field for the past 22 years. He is the head of behavioral health for Daily Planet Health Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides comprehensive and integrated healthcare and mental health services (including medication-assisted opioid treatment). Paul is also president of Providence Consulting & Education L.L.C., through which he provides clinical supervision and professional education services.

Paul has extensive experience in working with people with substance use disorders. After finishing school, Paul went to work at an adolescent residential treatment program, where he developed a treatment track for adolescents with substance use disorders. In 2003, he became a senior clinician in the Chesterfield County Juvenile Drug Court and provided individual, family, adolescent group and multifamily group therapies. After working at the drug court for seven years, Paul moved on to conduct psychiatric and substance misuse evaluations in emergency departments in the Greater Richmond, Virginia area. Paul has also served as adjunct faculty in the school of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he developed a graduate course in substance abuse treatment.

Paul has been a PESI presenter since 2016, and he has presented classes on mental health emergencies and high-risk clients across the country. He recently released his first book, High-Risk Clients: Evidence-Based Assessment & Clinical Tools to Recognize and Effectively Respond to Mental Health Crises (PESI Publishing 2019).

Rita A. Schulte, LPC specializes in the treatment of depression, suicidality, and grief. Rita is no stranger to loss and suffering, having lost her beloved husband to suicide in 2013. In addition to her private practice, Rita is the creator and host of Heartline Radio where she talks with counselors, authors and everyday people about moving through the difficulties of life. Rita writes for numerous publications and blogs and her articles have appeared in Counseling Today Magazine, Thriving Family, Kyria and LifeHack.org. She is the author of Shattered: Finding Hope and Healing through the Losses of Life (Leafwood, 2013) and her latest book Alongside: A Roadmap for Suicide Survivors and Those Who Love Them is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2021.