The Consultation & Training Institute

The Consultation & Training Institute evolved from Walk-In Counseling Center’s 50-year history of helping fellow professionals solve practice problems.

The Institute is directed by Gary R. Schoener, M.Eq., LP, former executive director of Walk-In Counseling Center. Gary is regularly called on for his expertise and advice — whether it’s consulting for community organizations and mental health agencies, giving workshops on emerging issues, or making presentations to professional groups. His work is both national and international, and focuses on professional ethics, boundaries and problems in service delivery, and specific advice about difficult cases. Gary has been with Walk-In since 1969, and is an internationally-recognized speaker, trainer and author.

Services by Gary and other associates of the Consultation & Training Institute are defined and priced by project. Income generated by the Institute supports the counseling provided by Walk-In.

Areas of expertise include

  • Professional ethics & boundaries
  • Clinical consultation
  • Coaching of impaired professionals
  • Organizational consulting & training

Contact Gary Schoener or call 612-870-0565 x107 to learn more.

Two men are having a conversation in front of a bookshelf filled with books. One man, wearing glasses and a suit jacket, faces the camera while the other is seen from behind.
Make a Payment
Two women are seated indoors; one is speaking while the other listens attentively. The room has red walls and framed artwork in the background.

Professional Training & CEUs

Walk-In offers both home study courses and quarterly in-person trainings led by Gary Schoener:

  • Two 6-hour CEU programs on ethics and diversity are available online
  • In-person trainings (2 CEUs each) are free for volunteers; a nominal fee applies for non-volunteers

Training topics include:

  • Professional ethics & boundaries
  • Ethical challenges of social media
  • Supervision & consultation practices
  • Brief therapy
  • High-risk clients
  • Practitioner wellness

Assessment & Coaching of Impaired Professionals

For more than 40 years Walk-In Counseling Center has been a leading expert in the evaluation and rehabilitation of who have come under disciplinary order because of misconduct.

Evaluation and coaching services are available for:

  • Professionals under disciplinary order or self-referred
  • Misconduct (e.g., sexual abuse, boundary violations)
  • Presumed mental health or substance abuse challenges
  • Anger, disruptive behavior, or over-involvement

Served professions include: psychologists, physicians, nurses, clergy, teachers, coaches, and more. Evaluations are tailored to case needs and can include reports, boundary coaching, or expert testimony.

A young woman in a tan sweater sits among a small group, listening attentively in a warmly lit room with an orange wall and a framed picture in the background.
A woman with a notepad sits in a group setting, attentively listening to two other seated women in a well-lit room.

Clinical & Organizational Consultation

For more than 40 years, Walk-In Counseling Center has provided consultation and advice to professionals and groups regarding issues such as:

  • Ethics committees
  • Clinics and schools
  • Licensing boards and legal teams
  • Small social service providers

Services include:

  • Attendance at staff or team meetings on an ongoing or periodic basis
  • Providing phone consultation on individual cases
  • Administering, scoring, and interpreting psychological tests to aid in diagnosis or case planning
  • Discussing alternative approaches to handling difficult client cases

Groups of independent practitioners also benefit from our services in:

  • Consultation on ethical practice issues
  • Support and peer consultation for sole practitioners or small practice groups
  • Continuing education credits (CEU’s) on specific training topics

Consultation is available remotely or in-person with:

  • Administrators and supervisors with concerns about troubled employees
  • People investigating complaints from clients and others
  • Program staff charged with developing policies and procedures that protect clients
  • Ethics committees, licensing boards, and others
  • Clinics, practice groups, religious institutions, or schools responding to a complaint

Call Gary Schoener at 612-870-0565 x107, or email Gary to discuss your unique needs.

Publications & Resources

Gary Schoener has authored numerous articles and guides on ethics, boundary-setting, and professional wellness.

Updated in 2024

Here is one of Gary’s publications on boundaries and ethics

Here are additional publications by Gary

The latter two were originally written for and published by the Minnesota Psychologist Journal, a publication of the Minnesota Psychological Association.  They are re-printed here by permission.

Four people sit at a round table with laptops and notebooks, while a fifth person joins via video call on a laptop screen in a modern office with bookshelves.