Greg has come a long way through life to help you find the tools to live your own. Become a little more familiar with Greg and gain a little insight of the path he has taken.
Greg's (brief) Autobiography
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It was over thirty years ago that I began on my career path. It was December, 1977 when I shook the hand of Captain C.C. Smith, the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Enterprise, for the last time. We had just returned on the U.S.S. Enterprise after the evacuation of Saigon, an event that marked the end of the Vietnam War. The early morning fog of the San Francisco Bay hid the ships ensign that I saluted farewell as I prepared to close that chapter of life in proud sentiment.
I came across a job listing that intrigued me. By week's end, I was informed that I had been selected for the position of counselor-intern for the Care Unit of Los Angeles. The hospital was an eighty-bed, free-standing building that provided a twenty-eight day program for those who needed help for their dependency on alcohol or other drugs.
Let me digress for a moment... When I was twelve years old, I was eagerly involved with a twelve-step program called Alateen. Alateen has been around since 1962 as a peer-directed support group for teens who have an alcoholic parent; I had two. By nine years old, I had been so abused and neglected, my only solace was found in a cave I had dug out underneath a freeway overpass. Without the incredible people that had been inspired to intervene with their committed love, care, support and protection of me, I can't begin to imagine how my life would have turned out. The two greatest contributors to my survival, Peter D. Magnusson and Mariette Hartley, gave me the gift of hope and to them I am forever grateful.
From Alateen's website:
Alateen members learn that compulsive drinking is a disease; that they can detach themselves emotionally from the drinker's problems while continuing to love the person; that they are not the cause of anyone else's drinking or behavior; that they cannot change or control anyone but themselves; that they have spiritual and intellectual resources with which to develop their own potentials, no matter what happens at home; that they can build satisfying and rewarding life experiences for themselves.
Alateen gave me a construct of living life that afforded me the opportunity to earn the strength of confidence that would come with the integrity of self-accountability.
Back to Los Angeles... Sixteen counselors made up the team at the Care Unit. One half would be responsible for the forty chemically dependent teens and the other would head up the care of their forty adult counterparts. At twenty-three, I was the youngest of a team of experienced, seasoned professionals. I was humbled by the experience of fifteen amazingly talented, gifted counselors taking me under their wings. They graciously helped me clean up any clinical messes I made, generously shared their knowledge and experience with me, and patiently allowed me to evolve into a style of counseling that was uniquely my own.
After a year of training and professional guidance, I felt confident enough in my skills to push beyond the specialty of chemical dependency and to broaden my professional knowledge and experience into the realm of mental health. I joined a registry to fill in for any counselor at any mental health facility where the need existed. My entry into the world of clinical mental health counseling was one filled with exposure to a seemingly endless variety of inpatient psychiatric environments, clinical approaches, and treatment philosophies. I had hands-on exposure and training in mental health issues and treatment milieus throughout the West Los Angeles-Santa Monica region. I did what I could to make a name for myself and, after a while, Saint John's Hospital Medical Center psychiatric department began asking for me specifically. Within months, I was asked to join their counseling staff.
I stayed at Saint John's for over five years but Los Angeles became too fast and busy and crowded for me. So, in search of a change of pace, I packed my life's belongings into a U-haul truck, said goodbye to friends and family, and steered north in a spirit of anticipation of what might lie ahead. At 4:00 a.m., I called my dear friend and colleague. He was a good sport to share the enthusiasm that filled me from over twelve hundred miles away. "David, I'm looking at the Space Needle! I'm here and it's beautiful!"
I was hired by Kirkland's Fairfax Psychiatric Hospital in September, 1983. After a year of clinical work with Fairfax, I accepted an invitation from Care Unit Hospital of Kirkland to come aboard with them as their director of counseling services. By this time, I had gathered over 10,000 clinical psychiatric counseling and 2,000 clinical alcohol and drug counseling hours. While working at Care Unit during the day, I was also attending classes in Seattle University's chemical dependency program. Two years later, I was awarded both state and national chemical dependency certifications.
Soon after completing those courses, I became the four hundred and fifty-third counselor to be granted registered counselor status by the Washington State Department of Health (today, there are more than 18,000). With fourteen thousand supervised clinical internship hours, my certifications from Seattle University, and more stories than you can shake a stick at, I was ready for the next wonderful step in my professional growth. In 1985, I began the private practice that, today, is the joy of my professional life.
To hear more about my practice, click here.
To hear from some of the people I've helped over the years, click here.