Dr. Rakfeldt has more than forty years of clinical experience in various contexts. He is a Professor in the Graduate Clinical Social Work Program at Southern, where he teaches research methods, psychopathology, advanced clinical practice in mental health/substance use courses, and research practicum seminars. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, where he conducts research, does clinical supervision and presents seminars. In the past he has been a post-doctoral fellow and a research scientist at Yale. Dr. Rakfeldt also serves as a consultant to various community agencies, and provides clinical supervision for clinicians as well as for persons seeking Department of Public Health licensure. He has more than fifty publications. In addition, Professor Rakfeldt has presented at over one hundred regional, national, and international conferences primarily in the area of mental health and substance use. Dr. Rakfeldt has certification in Gestalt Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), level-two training in Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), as well as training in Jungian Depth Psychology and various Motivational Enhancement, Solution-Focused approaches. Dr. Rakfeldt’s primary clinical approach is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In addition, a core component of Dr. Rakfeldt’s clinical practice involves the use of mindfulness techniques. Such mindfulness skills involve clearing, grounding, and centering exercises. Originally based upon eastern contemplative practices, the benefits of mindfulness are now supported by a burgeoning corpus of modern scientific, empirical evidence as well.
