Craig VanKempen, LMSW

Craig (he/him/his) earned two Master’s degrees in Social Work and Public Health from the University of Michigan and has been working as a clinical social worker since 2010. He has extensive experience working with LGBTQ+ clients and practicing supportive therapy. He worked with a diverse clientele at AIDS Partnership Michigan in Detroit where he provided individual and group psychotherapy to people living with HIV. He also has a special appreciation and talent for working with adolescents, having worked at the Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti providing therapy to adolescents and young adults, and working with health centers around the nation in order to make their practices, policies, and environments more adolescent-friendly through the Adolescent Health Initiative at the University of Michigan. He also worked in adolescent development before becoming a therapist, directing a camp focused on youth leadership.

Craig’s clinical interests include relationships and couples/relationship counseling; LGBTQ+ issues, including coming out and transition; sexuality, including sexual compulsion; death, loss, and grief; and identity development. He uses an eclectic approach with tools from CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and Motivational Interviewing, depending on each individual client’s particular need. He will work with clients to develop a personalized treatment plan and goals for achieving the gains that they want in therapy. He celebrates the different intersecting identities of each person and makes sure to integrate that into the therapeutic process.

Craig has a special interest in working with polyamorous individuals and relationships, and is knowledgeable about and welcoming to different types of sexuality, including BDSM/Kink.​