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).

Claire Brasler earned her Master of Science in Counseling and Human Development from Radford University (Virginia) in 1999. During this time she worked as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician in the Greater Roanoke area. She became a Licensed Professional Counselor in 2004. As a therapist, Claire worked in two residential treatment facilities for adolescents where she provided group and individual therapy. Claire later entered private practice where she provided therapy to children, adolescents, adults and families.

In 2009, Claire decided to return to her earlier passion of medicine and she entered nursing school. Claire became a Registered Nurse in 2012, (and subsequently gave birth to her third son two days later). Claire began working in an Emergency Department later that year. In 2016, Claire went to work at a Pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center and she became a trauma-certified nurse. In late 2019, Claire decided to take a break from the ED and she became a school nurse, serving a lower-income school.

Claire and her husband, Paul, are proud parents of three growing boys, one old dog and a hypomanic bunny. They are happy to call Richmond, Virginia home.