Shale earned a Master’s Degree at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work. He pursued his clinical training in psychotherapy at Youth and Family Counseling of Libertyville. Shale’s clinical training also included working on a memory unit at Presbyterian Homes with patients living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. His undergraduate degree is a B.F.A. from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in New York City where he worked as an actor for many years before returning to Chicago.
Prior to graduate school, Shale earned a CADC and worked extensively with hundreds of patients who were struggling with addictions at Presence Holy Family Medical Center’s Keys To Recovery program in Des Plaines, IL, both in individual and group settings.
Shale’s practice is deeply rooted in the 12-step program, mindfulness techniques, Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and utilizes spirituality as a resource to support healing. He employs an eclectic approach to help patients who are struggling with substance use disorder, anxiety, depression and trauma. Shale’s primary goal is to help people return to their natural state of wholeness. He believes that each patient has a right to self-determination and already has a great deal of insight to offer. Shale views the therapeutic alliance as an invitation for the patient to heal and ultimately become a healing presence to others. Shale’s focus as a clinician is not to solve patients’ problems for them, but to create the space for the patient so that the answers can find them. He believes that each patient is a whole person rather than a collection of symptoms. His compassionate and warm approach allows patients to feel that they are really being heard, understood and supported. He believes strongly that the solution to many of the disorders he has encountered over the years is rooted in a deep connection to compassion and empathy. Shale is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.
See Shale discuss the connection between eating disorders and trauma.
Check out Shale’s full video interview on SunCloud Health:
