Kurt L. Kraus, Ed.D., NCC, ACS, LPC

Dr. Kurt L. Kraus is a Professor of Counseling in the Department. He has worked for Shippensburg University since August 1998. Prior he taught at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and before that he was in practice as a school counselor (k-12) and mental health counselor (LCPC) in Maine. Kurt brings a variety of “lived experiences” to his role as a professional counselor and counselor educator.

Kurt has written extensively on group work including task, psychoeducation, counseling and psychotherapy groups. His 2002 article with Dr. Anne Geroski on Process and Content in School Psychoeducation Groups won the Journal for Specialists in Group Work’s Outstanding Article Award. Kurt’s publication Elements of Group Counseling with Dr. Peg Carroll, one of his mentors was released in 2006. In 2010 Kurt and Dr. Anne Geroski, University of Vermont, published Groups in Schools: Preparing, Leading, and Responding. His edited text Lenses: Applying Lifespan Development Theories in Counseling was published in 2008. He has also published on ethics, counseling children, and working with challenging adolescents. Kurt’s current projects include explorations into Traditional Chinese Medicine (the practice of therapeutic qigong and “Health Preservation Exercises”) and cross- and multicultural counseling in the USA and internationally. Kurt’s 2006 sabbatical in Beijing China allowed him to teach at Beijing Language and Culture University (北京语言文化大学) and study at the prestigious Training Centre of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing China (培训中心中国中医研究院，北京中国).

In the Department, Dr. Kraus teaches Counseling Children, Human Growth and Development for Counselors, Group Leadership, and a variety of other courses. Kurt advises students in both the Clinical Mental Health specialization and the School Counseling program. Kurt is often discontent (as in Freud’s 1930 Unbehagen in der Kultur) and seeks continuously to improve himself, his personal and professional practice, and his surroundings. He is theoretically an existentialist. His strives to keep both his counseling and supervision firmly grounded in the “here and now.” Dr. Kraus is captivated by Buddhist philosophical writings and spiritual practice.

Dr. Kraus is the national facilitator of the American Counseling Association’s 20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling – a task work group comprised of over 30 delegates representing the ACA, its divisions, and the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB). The 20/20 is intended to unite and refocus the profession by combining a broad range of viewpoints and the expertise of the profession's most recognized names to set forth and realize a set of goals that will aid all counselors, including the 2010 consensus definition of counseling: “Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals.”

Kurt is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Board of Certified Counselors, Inc. (NBCC). He is president of the Pennsylvania Specialists in Group Work (PASGW). He is past President of the North Atlantic Region of the Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (NARACES) and the past president of the Pennsylvania Alliance of Counseling Professionals.

Kurt resides in Carlisle Pennsylvania with his family. He is a passionate backpacker, fly-fisherman, and taijiquan (a Chinese martial art) practitioner.