Education, Expertise and Experience

Paula Prentis is a licensed social worker and certified wellness practitioner. For more than 20 years, she has worked with teens and adults to promote both physical and mental health. 

Fresh out of college, her first presentation covered rape sensitivity training to seasoned New York City police officers and detectives. Her passion for advocating for young men and women continued through graduate school at New York University, where she helped high school students navigate survival on a daily basis. 

She has developed a resource for teens nationwide to develop the skills necessary to reach their potentials—skills like communication, emotion regulation, goal-setting and empathy. Her web-based platform, Your Self Series, provides free mental and physical health resources to help teens discover, manage and express who they are. Implemented in schools nationwide and around the world, this free resource helps teens embody the critical social and emotional components to life success.

Paula also co-wrote Reach Before You Teach: Ignite Passion and Purpose In Your Classroom (Corwin Press, 2014). After the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, Paula and her co-authors convinced their publisher to provide the book for free to help educators foster greater connections within their classrooms, a proven way to increase school safety. 

(Read the blog and download the book here.) 

For more than 10  years, Paula has spoken across the country on topics relevant to identity development, mental health, neuroscience, social skills and safety, as applied to parenting, education and the workplace. She is available for keynotes, break-out sessions and workshops. She lives in New York with her husband and is currently working on another book.