Francis J. Kaklauskas

Francis Kaklauskas PsyD CGP FAGPA grew up on the Jersey shore where a mixture of American cultures and characters displayed varied values, social norms, and relational styles. Although his parents were not formally educated, they would discuss the family carney business by quoting lines of Shakespeare, Goethe, Yeats, and Langston Hughes to illustrate their points. For his sister, Kathleen Graber, these experiences set a foundation for award winning poetry. After stints as a UPS truck diver, piano mover, and bellhop, Francis found a professional home in the world of psychology. He has spent the majority of his work life as a clinician and supervisor in varied setting including community mental health, forensics, residential treatment, and private practice. He brings a streetwise and practical approach with real world examples to his writing, teaching, and editing projects. He has taught in the Graduate School of Psychology at the Naropa University for many years and co-facilitates the APA approved Group Training Program at the University of Colorado’s Psychological Health and Psychiatric Services (PHP). He is a fellow and former board member of the American Group Psychotherapy Association and currently serves on their Science to Service Task Force. He also serves on local and national committees focusing on the topics of diversity, humanistic psychology, and clinical research. He has lectured nationally and internationally on topics including the integration of theory and research into clinical work, comparative psychology, and mindfulness approaches to healing. For more than thirty years he has participated in and studied psychoanalysis and the eastern wisdom traditions. He has published a variety of book chapters and articles, and was the main psychological consultant and on screen presenter for the best selling three part video series, Hooked: The Addiction Trap. Perhaps because of his early struggles with expressive language challenges, he finds great joy in supporting others to share and communicate their ideas and experiences. Whenever possible Francis works with Ruby, a Newfoundland-Poodle Mix.