About Me
Dr. Irene Kraegel, Licensed Psychologist
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, and I love connecting with others searching for belonging. 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.
In addition to therapy work, I’ve been privileged to direct a university counseling center and develop an expertise in Christian mindfulness (including two published books on the topic). These experiences have deepened my sense of hope - my knowledge that whatever happens, we can expect God to show up with goodness.
Training & Experience
Specialized training
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
Pain Reprocessing Therapy
Prepare/Enrich Certification (marriage prep & enrichment)
Star Behavioral Health Providers (military culture & best practices)
Volunteer history
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Grace Christian Reformed Church
Cathedral of St. Andrew / Diocese of Grand Rapids
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)
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.
Blog Posts.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if we’re a good fit.
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.