About Me

Irene Kraegel, PsyD, LP

Some questions are hard to answer.

With 14 U.S. states of residence in my history (plus a year in Uganda), there’s no nutshell answer to “where are you from?”. I know what it’s like to feel like the newcomer on the margins, especially being raised by hippie parents who met in a commune, chose a life of poverty, and homeschooled their kids before mainstream society knew that was a thing.

So I love connecting with others searching for belonging, people on the margins who feel out of place or broken. With an abiding and lasting sense of God’s goodness weaving its way through the struggles of my own life, I’m deeply attuned to the ways God is weaving his goodness through the stories of others, even during the bleakest of times. Hence my work as a Christian therapist - this is my vocation, and I love it.

That’s a bit of my story. I can’t wait to hear yours!

Dr. Irene Kraegel smiles in a hallway with good lighting, wearing a grey blazer and white shirt.

Training & Experience

Education

  • Wheaton College (Illinois) - BA, Sociology

  • The Chicago School of Professional Psychology - PsyD, Clinical Psychology

Relevant employment history

  • Wyoming State Hospital (inpatient psychiatric)

  • 4C Health (community mental health)

  • Calvin University (director of college counseling center)

Additional training

Volunteer history

  • Big Brothers/Big Sisters

  • Grace Christian Reformed Church

  • Cathedral of St. Andrew / Diocese of Grand Rapids

Dwell Psychological Services operates in an old factory building with exposed brick, large windows, wood floors, and lots of character. Free and easy parking is available and the building is fully accessible.
Dr. Irene Kraegel smiles while wearing black sweater and sitting on stairs

Our answers evolve.

As I’ve worked to create roots over time, the answers to life’s deepest questions deepen. With that comes an ever-deeper reliance on divine grace. It is clearer than ever that our world needs love, and my role as a therapist has given me a front-row seat to the difficulties we all have receiving God’s love.

So when you struggle to feel worthy, not sure whether self-compassion is even possible (or allowed), I’m here to tell you otherwise - you are loved, you are chosen, and God’s compassion for you goes deeper than you can even imagine.

You can heal and mend, because God has made you for love. You are invited to put your roots down deeper into the answers that matter as you learn to care well for yourself along the way.

Let’s work together!

  • Sooner or later, we all discover that kindness is the only strength there is.

    Fr. Gregory Boyle

  • Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and the pain of it no less than the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.

    Frederick Buechner

  • We are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet. Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?

    Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis

  • Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.

    Proverbs 4:23

  • You are valuable because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are.

    Max Lucado

  • Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves. It’s as if we’ve divided the world into “those who offer help” and “those who need help.” The truth is that we are both.

    Brené Brown

  • Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.

    Nelson Mandela

Let’s Connect

Blog Posts

Featured
Is self-care for Christians?
Is self-care for Christians?

Christians sometimes think that self-care is selfish and should be avoided as we follow Jesus' instructions to "take up your cross and follow me." In fact, self-care is crucial as we humbly accept our limits and seek to be equipped by God for the difficult work of following Christ.

Dwell
Dwell

I’ve been blogging since 2014 at www.TheMindfulChristian.com, but here we are on a new website for my expanding private practice, Dwell Psychological Services (woohoo!). As a bridge between the two sites, here’s the post I wrote a year ago to announce my practice opening. If you’re wondering “why the name Dwell?,” here’s where you get to find out.

Let’s Get Started

I can’t wait to meet you!

Let's Go