Our Team

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Adjunct Instructor

Paul Harper, AA, MAM, MSW, LICSW, is an Adjunct trainer with the People Incorporated Training Institute. He currently works as a Social Worker Supervisor of an interdisciplinary team at the Hennepin County 1800 Chicago – Behavioral Health Walk-In Center. He served as an Adjunct Professor through the School of Social work at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN. During a 29-year military career, he trained, coached, and mentored diverse groups of people, creating, and presenting a variety of training classes on subjects ranging from equal opportunity, cultural experience, safety, and diversity. He is Certified Supervisor with the National Association of Social Workers-MN and trained in various therapeutic modalities. Paul values the utilization of a person-centered approach and utilization of the 4 learning modalities in his pedagogy to help others learn. As a lifelong learner and clinical therapist, Paul leverages his unique lived experiences and perspective via a social justice, and relational lens to provide respectful, informative, and engaging training.

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Trainer

Raymond Young, CPS, BA has 15 years of experience training diverse groups of adult, youth, and adolescent learners prior to joining the Training Institute at People Incorporated Mental Health Services. He has trained mental health workers, police officers, transportation professionals, business partners, and clients. Ray received his certification as a Certified Peer Specialist from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2017 and has since worked with individuals with various mental health conditions and behavioral health concerns. He has also studied Drug and Alcohol Counseling. Ray has a passion for working with youth in Youth Leadership Programs and as a mentor in the community.

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Director

During Russ’s 16-year tenure he has written and taught thousands of hours of person-centered curriculum to help people become more effective helpers, communicators, and leaders. His audience includes workers and leaders across a wide range of organizations from human services, healthcare, and libraries, to law enforcement and corrections. He trains trainers, works with management, and has consulted and coached on training projects across multiple sectors of the economy. He has worked as an educator for three decades in a variety of countries and settings including Japan, the Czech Republic, and the UK. His teaching philosophy is that adults learn best when they are challenged, the material is applicable to work situations, and sessions are interactive and engaging.

Adjunct Instructor

Shannon Goecke-Watson, PsyD, LP owns SGW Psychological Services LLC and is an active member of the Minnesota Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association, and the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. She obtained both her Master Degree and Doctorate Degree in Counseling Psychology from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Prior to entering the mental health field, Shannon worked as an advocate at a local domestic violence shelter. Because of this experience, coupled with her classroom knowledge and training experiences she received while obtaining her degrees, she has a strong background in treating domestic violence, sexual violence, and other forms of trauma. In addition, she has a background of working with individuals who have been civilly committed for mental illness, working in multiple medical settings, and collaborating on multidisciplinary teams.

Shannon thoroughly enjoys providing community trainings. She has presented trainings to lawyers, individuals working to obtain meditation certification, domestic violence shelter advocates, and members of the mental health treatment community. In addition, she taught a class on trauma for Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and continues to guest lecture for the University.

Pronouns: He, Him, His

Trainer

Warren Duncan, BS has had various roles throughout his career working with households experiencing homelessness and multiple barriers to stable housing. He has worked as direct support staff on mobile teams in Permanent Supportive Housing program across the metro area, assisted in outreach efforts for program participants living on the streets and in shelter, provided outreach to property managers and landlords, connecting them to support services in metro and greater Minnesota communities. He has worked to provide support to a network of supportive housing programs and community organizing among County, State, and local community agencies in Southern and Central Minnesota. He is currently overseeing all programming as Program Director for a Minnesota Nonprofit. Warren enjoys facilitating workshops and has led a number of training sessions. Topics include Building Landlord Relationships, Housing First, Harm Reduction, Navigating Conflict, De-escalation, and Mindfulness. Warren grew up in Des Moines, Iowa and moved to Minnesota shortly after graduating from Iowa State University. He currently lives with his family in the Twin Cities western suburbs. He enjoys drawing, painting, and photography in his spare time.