Meet Gordon
"I believe a key aspect of our mental health is to get deliberate about it. We all have the ability to improve our lives and cope with the challenges we face when we have the right help."
I know from my own experience that sometimes those struggles and challenges can threaten to overwhelm us, making us feel frightened, alone, and doubting our ability to manage them. When I faced those challenges, I was grateful for both the help I received and the insight I gained from my experience.
As the Founder and Director of Gooding Wellness Group, it’s immensely gratifying to help others find the right therapist with the right training and expertise, for the best possible outcome.
I began working in the public school system over 25 years ago and have been a school-based social worker on Long Island my entire career, working with students from Pre-K to 12th grade. My goal has always been to help children and their families feel more connected to their school communities, forged by the belief that when schools, communities, and families work and communicate better, students are better supported academically, emotionally, and socially.
Motivated by this conviction, I began my work in private practice, specializing in treating and supporting adults, couples, and families impacted by substance use disorder. The knowledge I gained in private practice reinforced my belief in the meaningful impact communities, families, and organizations have on someone’s success, and this belief remains one of my core values today
Through my work, I recognized there was a greater need for private therapists with a solid background in working with young people, as well as those struggling with substance use disorder. So in 2017, I reached out to other talented school social workers and founded the Gooding Wellness Group. The team I chose had the specialized training and experience required to understand the demands and stressors that young people face and the desire to support children, adolescents, and teens, and their families, confronting a variety of academic, social, emotional, and traumatic challenges.
Today, I continue to hand pick the clinicians in the Gooding Wellness team, always staying focused on the goal of making sure each client has access to the right treatment, resources, and support for them. To stay true to this purpose, the Group has expanded to include professionals specializing in treating an array of relationship issues and mental health challenges, including addiction, eating disorders, codependency, anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief, to name a few. We take advantage of the full range of expertise our clinicians bring, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization & Processing (EMDR), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), neuropsychology, resilience, meditation, and 12-step recovery.
As a native Long Islander, I’m happy to call the beautiful Village of Cold Spring Harbor home to the Group, utilizing every opportunity the community offers for flexible treatment options. If the idea of sitting in an office across from a therapist is not something you like, you might enjoy the waterfront park or nearby garden instead. Maybe sitting isn’t something you want to do at all and Walk and Talk therapy is more appealing. And on any occasions you aren’t able to make it to the office (or park), we offer virtual therapy options, as well.
I’m proud of the team I’ve assembled and how we’ve become a leader in the Long Island mental health community. Our exceptional therapists are among the most qualified individuals on the Island, and we maintain that standard through continued professional education so we’re able to meet the ever-demanding challenges our clients face.
During 2020, in response to the pandemic, I also founded Long Island Teletherapy, an exclusively virtual practice with the goal of making access to quality mental health professionals even more convenient, obtainable, and affordable, throughout New York through a secure online platform.
Today, as I’ve done throughout my career, I’m dedicated to providing the best treatment available for our clients and making a difference in the mental, emotional, and social lives of the community. My goal is to continue to expand our services and support our amazing community, while fighting the stigma surrounding mental health.
WE NEed to be DELIBERATE about our mental health and wellbeing, if not we will be forced to play "catch up" down the road.
-Gordon Gooding, LCSW
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