William Schultz, MA, LPCC
Advocate.
Clinician.
Researcher.
Survivor.
You’re looking for someone who understands OCD inside and out — someone who’s going to help you feel better for good.
You’re in the right place!
I don’t just think about OCD when I’m with clients. My life is built around it:
Advocate: I’m the president of OCD Twin Cities (an affiliate of the International OCD Foundation), a community outreach and advocacy organization for those experiencing OCD (including their family and friends).
Clinician: I’m a licensed professional clinical counselor (MN license #3167; TX license #94484; WI license #10880-125), an OCD treatment specialist, and I’ve been providing mental health services in private practice since 2016.
Researcher: I’m a recognized mental health researcher (I’ve published a book, many peer-reviewed articles, and my research was relied on in creating international knowledge and competency standards for specialized cognitive behavior therapy for adult obsessive-compulsive disorder).
Survivor: I’m an OCD-survivor (I suffered from OCD for ten years before achieving remission).
Engaging with OCD from multiple angles directly supports my clients.
One of my top priorities is spreading knowledge, understanding, and information about treatment options related to OCD. OCD is hard enough when you know what it is and that you’re experiencing it. Unfortunately, so many suffer from OCD without realizing what’s happening to them.
My clinical work informs my research focus. I bring the questions, concerns, and challenges I frequently see from my clients to my research. It also requires me to review new studies published each week. This helps ensure my clients are getting the most up-to-date care.
My energy for mental health is rooted in having lived through the pain and devastation of my OCD. I know first hand what it’s like to suffer from constant obsessions and compulsions. I know how painful, time consuming, and embarrassing living with OCD can be.
And I know how OCD can be overcome.
Apart from OCD, I love:
Having coffee with my family
Being active
Gaming with friends (I’m a lifelong gamer, from board games to computer games and everything in-between)
Spending time relaxing with my two little guys: Jalapeno and Leonidas (my cats)
Education and Credentials
Education:
Master’s Degree, Clinical Psychology, 2016
Minnesota School of Professional PsychologyBachelor’s Degree, Philosophy, 2007
Concordia College, Moorhead
Clinical Training:
University of Minnesota
Brakins Consulting and Psychological Services
Watercourse Counseling
Argosy University Student Counseling Services
Professional Memberships:
My Research
“William Schultz has written a marvelous, fact-filled book arguing against current biologically-based conceptions of mental illness. It is also a very courageous book, drawing on his experiences as a patient, a clinician, and a researcher, to challenge widespread misconceptions of mental disorders as brain diseases. Schultz’s book should be read by all mental health professionals, primary care physicians, people suffering from psychological malaise, and their families. It may change the way you work and the way you live.”
— Dr. Irving Kirsch
Harvard Medical School
“Drawing on his experiences as a clinician, and through meticulous research, William Schultz investigates the relationship between the brain and behavior with stunning clarity. He doesn’t deny the possible role of biological mechanisms in mental disorders. Instead, he uses a data-driven approach to demonstrate the importance of behavioral treatments, like cognitive behavioral therapy…I write this as a pharmacologist that fully believes medications can have value in the treatment of psychopathologies and as a researcher investigating how biological mechanisms impact behavior…This knowledge ought to drive how we view mental health and its treatments.”
— Dr. Fernando B. de Moura
Scientist at the FDA, Formerly at Harvard Medical School
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Schultz, W. (2021). Biogenetic etiologies of mental disorders: Avoiding shortcomings and dangers within psychoeducation. Advances in Cognitive Therapy, 22(1), 7; 13.
Schultz, W. (2020). Epistemic violence, relativism, and objectivity. Theory & Psychology, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354320923732.
Schultz, W. (2019). Mental health: Biology, agency, meaning. Theran Press.
Schultz, W. (2019). Biogenetic etiologies of OCD: Review and recommendations for clinicians. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22, 100451, 1-7.
Schultz, W. (2018). Biogenetic etiologies of mental disorders: Stigma, mental health literacy, and prognostic pessimism. The Behavior Therapist, 41(4), 188-194.
Schultz, W. (2018). Neuroessentialism: Theoretical and clinical considerations. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 58(6), 607-639.
Schultz, W. (2017). Explaining depression in clinical settings: Shortcomings and dangers of simplified analogies. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 19(1), 51-64.
Schultz, W. & Hunter N. (2016). Depression, chemical imbalances, and feminism. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 28(4), 159-173.
Schultz, W. & Hunter N. (2016). White paper: Brain scan research. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 18(1), 9-19.
Schultz, W. (2016). Child-centered play therapy. Reason Papers, 38(1), 21-37.
Schultz, W. (2015). The chemical imbalance hypothesis of depression: An evaluation of the evidence. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(1), 60-75.
Peer-Reviewed Journals In Which My Research Has Appeared:
Academic Psychiatry
American Journal of Medical Genetics
Best Practices in Mental Health
BMC Public Health
Disability & Society
Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry
Frontiers in Pain Research
Frontiers In Psychiatry
Health Research Board Open Research
Journal of Feminist Family Therapy
Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development
Journal of Mental Health Counseling
Journal of Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders
Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health
New Zealand Journal of Psychology
NeuroImage
Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health
Professional Counselor
Psychiatry Research
Science Progress
The Behavior Therapist
The Journal of Humanistic Counseling
Theory & Psychology
Written Communication