Steve has a passion for providing professional and effective therapeutic services with warmth, humor, and expertise.  He has been providing mental health and psychotherapeutic services to the South Florida community for over 30 years and excels in developing an individualized approach to each client. He deeply believes that a professional and collaborative relationship that is warm, genuine and safe is at the heart of good therapy.

Highlights

• Steve is a native of South Florida and has provided counseling to couples, families and individuals for over 30 years.
• Over 25,000 hours of clinical counseling experience.
• Professor of Counseling at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Counselor Education Program.
• Researcher and expert in workplace abuse.
• Expert in the diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders.
• Adept at creating individualized approach based on client personality, needs and background.
• Collaborative, warm and genuine with a great sense of humor.
• Coauthor and associate editor of the 3 volume encyclopedia: “Mental Health and Mental Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Conditions, Treatments, and Well-Being (2016).

Dr. Vensel’s professional experiences include serving as a therapist and then clinic director of a large outpatient children’s psychiatric center; director of children’s therapeutic residential homes; and clinical director of outpatient treatment centers.  For twelve years Steve directed Vensel Counseling Associates, a large private practice with 7 associates during which time he was the on air “talent” for a weekly call in counseling show and was on air for over 2 years. 

Steve has been highly active in the clinical supervision and training of helping professionals throughout his career and has a passion for counselor education.  He is a state qualified supervisor for mental health, marriage & family, and clinical social work interns and has an earned doctorate in counseling from a CACREP accredited program. Dr. Vensel maintains his role as a clinical supervisor for registered clinical interns. Steve is adept in a variety of treatment methods including experiential/emotion focused, cognitive, solution based, and motivational interviewing techniques.

Steve provides workshops and training in a variety of topics including: healing couple infidelity; mobbing and workplace abuse; conflict resolution; parenting; understanding emotionally unhealthy people and how to manage, or avoid, them; diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders; the transformative power of affect; effective experiential interventions; and a variety of professional topics for mental health professionals.

Dr. Vensel served as the Program Chair of the Graduate Counselor Education Program at Palm Beach Atlantic University and brings considerable clinical expertise to his classrooms.  Steve’s research focuses on workplace mobbing and bullying, abusive organizations, including religious organizations, forced terminations and its impact on targets and their families.

Steve is the associate editor and co-writer of the Encyclopedia of Health and Mental Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Conditions, Treatments, and Well-Being (2016). He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development where he specializes in reviewing manuscripts utilizing structural equation modeling, path analysis, and mediation research methodologies. He also serves on the research committee for the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling.

 In addition to his academic work, Steve provides specialized training to organizations in identifying and managing psychologically unhealthy people in the workplace. He provides training in brief counseling/coaching techniques that are especially suited to the workplace where there is limited time to provide effective interventions leading to change. He also provides recovery services to mobbing and bullying victims as well as advocacy and consultation services for the establishment of workplace abuse policies and workplace abuse educational protocols.