About Wade

My path to becoming a therapist has been anything but traditional, and I believe that is one of the strengths I bring to my work.

From 1990 through 1996, I served in the Minnesota and Iowa Army National Guard as a Combat Signaler, MOS 31K while I worked in several different fields, including residential framing, real estate, and business ownership. Each of these experiences gave me a practical understanding of responsibility, hard work, financial pressure, family life, and the many unexpected turns a person’s life can take.

From 2007 through 2013, I was called as a pastor. During that time, I provided spiritual guidance and pastoral support to individuals and families facing addiction, grief, relationship difficulties, personal crises, and major life transitions. This pastoral work was separate from professional clinical counseling, but it played an important role in my decision to pursue formal education and training in the behavioral health field.

At age 33, encouraged by my wife, I returned to school as an adult learner while balancing family, employment, and ministry. I completed undergraduate studies in Business Management through Western International University and Human Services Management through the University of Phoenix. I later completed my graduate education at the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies in Center City, Minnesota. During that same period, I pursued additional graduate-level education in abnormal psychology, trauma, and abuse through Adler Graduate School.

I am currently a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Minnesota and Kentucky and LPCMH in South Dakota. I also previously practiced as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor, although that license is currently in inactive status.

A significant part of my professional background includes five years working as a National Certified Gambling Counselor-II on the Vanguard Unit at Project Turnabout in Granite Falls, Minnesota. Although I no longer maintain the NCGC-II credential, that experience gave me extensive exposure to gambling addiction, substance use disorders, financial devastation, family disruption, relapse, recovery, and the complicated emotional patterns that often accompany addictive behavior.

My clinical work has also included extensive experience helping people address trauma, anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship conflict, emotional dysregulation, grief, shame, resentment, and major life transitions. I work with individuals and couples who are ready to better understand themselves, confront difficult patterns, and create meaningful changes in their lives.

My approach to therapy is direct, practical, compassionate, and highly engaged. I do not believe therapy should consist only of clinical language, passive listening, or surface-level advice. People often need a therapist who will listen carefully, speak honestly, recognize their strengths, challenge the patterns keeping them stuck, and help them develop tools they can use outside the therapy office.

My own life has included military service, ministry, business ownership, education, professional reinvention, recovery, success, failure, and starting over. I do not approach people from a position of perfection or judgment. I understand that change can be uncomfortable, that fear can keep people trapped, and that even strong and capable individuals sometimes need support finding their way forward.

My goal is to provide a place where people can be honest about what is happening in their lives, understand the experiences and beliefs influencing them, and begin moving toward greater stability, connection, confidence, and purpose.