About Rick Gordon
I’m Rick Gordon and I’m a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Rick Gordon LCSW. I offer a range of therapy services, including couples therapy, individual therapy, addiction therapy, and trauma therapy.
I’ve been working as a therapist for over 25 years. My expertise was originally in business, but when I experienced my journey with addiction recovery, it transformed my calling in life. Right after graduate school, I completed post-graduate training in Family Therapy at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Since then, I have worked with patients struggling with addiction and relationship problems. Using emotionally focused therapy, we work together to identify negative cycles of behaviors, understand the emotions triggering those behaviors and the unmet attachment needs that drive those behaviors.
My mission is to provide compassionate and caring therapy services to my clients. I know first-hand when someone is struggling in their life, the first thing they need is someone who listens and understands. As a therapist and social worker, I have helped individuals, couples, and families who are facing seemingly hopeless situations recover and improve their lives.
When clients come to me, I always feel honored and humbled to be able to step into their lives and become the platform for positive change. Allow me to become that person in your lives that will guide and lead you to the path of recovery.
I’ve been working as a therapist for over 25 years. My expertise was originally in business, but when I experienced my journey with addiction recovery, it transformed my calling in life. Right after graduate school, I completed post-graduate training in Family Therapy at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Since then, I have worked with patients struggling with addiction and relationship problems. Using emotionally focused therapy, we work together to identify negative cycles of behaviors, understand the emotions triggering those behaviors and the unmet attachment needs that drive those behaviors.
My mission is to provide compassionate and caring therapy services to my clients. I know first-hand when someone is struggling in their life, the first thing they need is someone who listens and understands. As a therapist and social worker, I have helped individuals, couples, and families who are facing seemingly hopeless situations recover and improve their lives.
When clients come to me, I always feel honored and humbled to be able to step into their lives and become the platform for positive change. Allow me to become that person in your lives that will guide and lead you to the path of recovery.
Why did I choose to become a Therapist?
In 1989, after years of struggling with my own addictions I reached out and asked for help. I entered treatment and my recovery journey began. In the early 90’s (92’-93’) a recovering friend asked me about my interest in working with folks who are struggling with their addiction and/or mental health issues. At that time I was working in the business world. Even though I was successful in business, that suggestion just stuck in my head and kind of haunted me at times. The more I resisted that idea the stronger it became. What happened from there is truly a spiritual journey. I started working in both business and addiction treatment. Working daytime in the business world and 6pm-12pm in the counseling world. It did not take long for me to realize that my passion for business was ramping down and my passion for counseling was ramping up. Way up. I recognized I needed to get a graduate degree. This started me down the path of becoming a therapist. When I finished grad school, I completed post-graduate training in Family Therapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Since then, I’ve been extensively trained in EMDR trauma, CSAT sex addiction therapy and in Emotionally Focused Therapy.
My favorite part of practicing therapy
Wow, there are so many. I have an opportunity to simply “be” with clients as they learn about who they are and courageously become who they want to be. I am especially passionate about working with couples. Walking side by side with them on their journey to learn about themselves, ways to heal, build a closer connection and move toward a stronger relationship. Clients allow me to step into their world at a very trusting level, and that privilege is powerful and humbling. Helping them connect with themselves and each other is a true privilege. I get to see how amazingly resilient folks and ways God is working in their life.
If someone is battling addiction they need “a village.” Various types of therapy–including individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, 12-step meetings, and church groups, all can be effective to help in the battle with addiction. For some, medication may be part of their recovery plan. Accountability is vital in recovery from any addictive disorder. Addiction grows in shame and isolation, so reaching out for help is a vital part of healing.
If someone is battling addiction they need “a village.” Various types of therapy–including individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, 12-step meetings, and church groups, all can be effective to help in the battle with addiction. For some, medication may be part of their recovery plan. Accountability is vital in recovery from any addictive disorder. Addiction grows in shame and isolation, so reaching out for help is a vital part of healing.
What should someone expect when they come to see me?
They can expect someone who is caring and compassionate. People who are hurting “don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care.” When someone reaches out for help, often they have doubts, sadness, anger, shame, guilt, fears and questions. Those feelings show up in many different forms. The underpinning of all those are basically:
- Will you really be able to understand and help me or us?
- Is there something wrong with me or us?
- Am I or are we going to be okay?
- Are we going to be able to be happy again?
– Rick Gordon, LCSW, CSAT, EFT
Why Therapy – Is It Right for Me?
How can therapy help me?
Why therapy? A number of benefits are available from participating in therapy. Therapists can provide support, problem-solving skills, and enhanced coping strategies for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship troubles, unresolved childhood issues, grief, stress management, body image issues and creative blocks. Many people also find that counselors can be a tremendous asset to managing personal growth, interpersonal relationships, family concerns, marriage issues, and the hassles of daily life. Therapists can provide a fresh perspective on a difficult problem or point you in the direction of a solution. The benefits you obtain from therapy depend on how well you use the process and put into practice what you learn. Some of the benefits available from therapy include:
- Attaining a better understanding of yourself, your goals and values
- Developing skills for improving your relationships
- Finding resolution to the issues or concerns that led you to seek therapy
- Learning new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
- Managing anger, grief, depression, and other emotional pressures
- Improving communications and listening skills
- Changing old behavior patterns and developing new ones
- Discovering new ways to solve problems in your family or marriage
- Improving your self-esteem and boosting self-confidence
Do I really need therapy? I can usually handle my problems.
Everyone goes through challenging situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated through other difficulties you’ve faced, there’s nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it. In fact, therapy is for people who have enough self-awareness to realize they need a helping hand, and that is something to be admired. You are taking responsibility by accepting where you’re at in life and making a commitment to change the situation by seeking therapy. Therapy provides long-lasting benefits and support, giving you the tools you need to avoid triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and overcome whatever challenges you face.
Why do people go to therapy and how do I know if it is right for me?
People have many different motivations for coming to psychotherapy. Some may be going through a major life transition (unemployment, divorce, new job, etc.), or are not handling stressful circumstances well. Some people need assistance managing a range of other issues such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, addictions, relationship problems, spiritual conflicts and creative blocks. Therapy can help provide some much needed encouragement and help with skills to get them through these periods. Others may be at a point where they are ready to learn more about themselves or want to be more effective with their goals in life. In short, people seeking psychotherapy are ready to meet the challenges in their lives and ready to make changes in their lives.
Rick resides in Flower Mound. He enjoys sailing, the ocean and training his puppy Morgan to be a therapy dog.
Services I Offer
Welcome! I hope we can work together to improve your relationships or your self. My goal is to offer a wide range of services to help you improve your life.
I work with individuals, couples, and groups, where I offer either one-on-one sessions or group therapy sessions. I also do workshops and talks when needed. Each service is tailored to meet your individual needs.
I also work with the following issues:
– Substance abuse
– Sexual addiction
– Compulsive behavior
– Family support
– Eating disorders
– Mental health issues
When you work with me, you can expect the following results:
– Attain a better understanding of your goals, values, and self
– Develop skills to improve your relationships
– Learn new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
– Manage anger, grief, and depression
– Improve your communication skills
– Change old behavior patterns
– Improve your self-esteem and confidence
No matter how much you’re struggling right now, please know that there is hope. A more positive, healthier, and improved life can be yours. The first step is to seek it. Here at Rick Gordon, it is my goal that we work together so you can better navigate your life and relationships for positive change. Start living your best life by setting up an appointment today!
I work with individuals, couples, and groups, where I offer either one-on-one sessions or group therapy sessions. I also do workshops and talks when needed. Each service is tailored to meet your individual needs.
I also work with the following issues:
– Substance abuse
– Sexual addiction
– Compulsive behavior
– Family support
– Eating disorders
– Mental health issues
When you work with me, you can expect the following results:
– Attain a better understanding of your goals, values, and self
– Develop skills to improve your relationships
– Learn new ways to cope with stress and anxiety
– Manage anger, grief, and depression
– Improve your communication skills
– Change old behavior patterns
– Improve your self-esteem and confidence
No matter how much you’re struggling right now, please know that there is hope. A more positive, healthier, and improved life can be yours. The first step is to seek it. Here at Rick Gordon, it is my goal that we work together so you can better navigate your life and relationships for positive change. Start living your best life by setting up an appointment today!
Couples Therapy
Couples therapy begins with some standard relationship questions regarding the history of the relationship as well as some exploration into each partner’s family-of-origin, values and cultural background. The couples therapist will then assist the couple in identifying the issue that will be the focus of treatment, establishing goals and planning a structure for healing and growth.
Individual Therapy
The first session of therapy often focuses on gathering information. I speak with the person in therapy about their past physical, mental, and emotional health. They also discuss the concerns bringing the person to therapy. It can take a couple of sessions for me to have a good understanding of the situation. Only then can we address concerns and goals for therapy.
Family Therapy
Family Therapy enables family members, couples and others who care about each other to express and explore difficult thoughts and emotions safely. In order to understand each other’s experiences and views, appreciate each other’s needs, build on strengths and make useful changes in their relationships and their lives, family therapy may be the answer.
Sex Addiction Therapy
I use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help individuals with sex addiction learn their individual triggers for sexually destructive (acting out) behaviors. I reevaluate distortions in their thoughts that contribute to their acting out behaviors, and ultimately help them learn to control those behaviors.
Today you are one step closer to feeling empowered and on a positive path of growth and possibility.
As an Emotionally Focused Therapist my goal is to help you identify long-standing patterns of behaviors or negative perceptions that may be getting you stuck and holding you back from experiencing a more rewarding relationship and more fulfilling life. If you are looking for help and guidance through a challenging time or situation, or if you’re just wanting to improve the quality of your life and relationship, I look forward to working with you to achieve your goals.
What is Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)?
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a structured approach to couples’ therapy developed by Drs. Sue Johnson and Les Greenberg in the 1980s. It is grounded in research while focusing on negative communication patterns and love as an attachment bond.
It starts with Attachment Theory
“Attachment” between people typically provides a safe haven: a retreat from the world and a way to obtain comfort, security and a buffer against stress. Attachment also offers a secure base, allowing you to feel safe while you explore the world and learn new information. Its formation begins in childhood with a primary caretaker, such as
a parent. Those early, established patterns carry through to adulthood. An “unavailable caretaker” creates distress in a baby akin to an “unavailable partner” creating distress in an adult. Attachment theory provides the emotionally-focused therapist with a “road map” to the drama of distress, emotions, and needs between partners.
Grounded in Science
According to the website dedicated to EFT, a substantial body of research outlining the effectiveness of this treatment exists. It is now considered one of the most (if not the most) empirically validated forms of couples therapy.
Research studies have found that 70-75% of couples undergoing EFT successfully move from distress to recovery, and approximately 90% show significant improvements. This recovery is also quite stable and lasting, with little evidence of relapse back into distress.
EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centers, and hospital clinics. It is also quite useful with various cultural groups throughout the world. The distressed couples who may benefit from EFT include those where one or both partners suffer from depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorders, and chronic illness, among other disorders. EFT has proven to be a powerful approach for couples dealing with infidelity or other more traumatic incidents, both current and past.
Neuroscience also intersects attachment theory and EFT. More recently produced MRI studies demonstrate the significance of secure attachment. Our attachments are potent, and our brains code them as “safety.”
According to an article on EFT in Social Work Today, any perceived distance or separation in our close relationships is interpreted as danger. Losing the connection to a loved one threatens our sense of security. “Primal fear” ensues and sets off an alarm in part of our brain called the amygdala, also known as the fear center.
Once the amygdala is activated, it triggers our fight-or-flight response. When incoming information is familiar, the amygdala is calm. However, as soon as the amygdala encounters threatening or unfamiliar information, it increases the brain’s anxiety level and focuses the mind’s attention on the immediate situation. People go into a self-preservation mode, often doing what they did to “survive” or cope in childhood. This is the reason we are triggered as adults in our romantic relationships, in the same repeating (and unhealthy) patterns from our formative years. EFT can help to unwind these automatic, counter-productive reactions.
Research studies have found that 70-75% of couples undergoing EFT successfully move from distress to recovery, and approximately 90% show significant improvements. This recovery is also quite stable and lasting, with little evidence of relapse back into distress.
EFT is being used with many different kinds of couples in private practice, university training centers, and hospital clinics. It is also quite useful with various cultural groups throughout the world. The distressed couples who may benefit from EFT include those where one or both partners suffer from depression, addiction, post-traumatic stress disorders, and chronic illness, among other disorders. EFT has proven to be a powerful approach for couples dealing with infidelity or other more traumatic incidents, both current and past.
Neuroscience also intersects attachment theory and EFT. More recently produced MRI studies demonstrate the significance of secure attachment. Our attachments are potent, and our brains code them as “safety.”
According to an article on EFT in Social Work Today, any perceived distance or separation in our close relationships is interpreted as danger. Losing the connection to a loved one threatens our sense of security. “Primal fear” ensues and sets off an alarm in part of our brain called the amygdala, also known as the fear center.
Once the amygdala is activated, it triggers our fight-or-flight response. When incoming information is familiar, the amygdala is calm. However, as soon as the amygdala encounters threatening or unfamiliar information, it increases the brain’s anxiety level and focuses the mind’s attention on the immediate situation. People go into a self-preservation mode, often doing what they did to “survive” or cope in childhood. This is the reason we are triggered as adults in our romantic relationships, in the same repeating (and unhealthy) patterns from our formative years. EFT can help to unwind these automatic, counter-productive reactions.
Fostering healthy Dependency
EFT provides a language for healthy dependency between partners and looks at key moves and moments that define an adult love relationship. The primary goal of the model is to expand and re-organize the emotional responses of the couple.
New sequences of bonding interactions occur and replace old, negative patterns such as “pursue-withdraw” or “criticize-defend.” These new, positive cycles then become self-reinforcing and create permanent change. The relationship becomes a haven and a healing environment for both partners.
New sequences of bonding interactions occur and replace old, negative patterns such as “pursue-withdraw” or “criticize-defend.” These new, positive cycles then become self-reinforcing and create permanent change. The relationship becomes a haven and a healing environment for both partners.
Creating a Secure Bond
The process reduces couples’ conflict while creating a more secure emotional bond. Couples learn to express deep, underlying emotions from a place of vulnerability and ask for their needs to be met. Partners begin to view undesirable behaviors (i.e., shutting down or angry escalations) as “protests of disconnection.” Couples learn to be emotionally available, empathic and engaged with each other, strengthening the attachment bond and safe haven between them.
EFT has many strengths as a therapeutic model. First, it is supported by extensive research. Second, it is collaborative and respectful of clients. It shifts blame for the couples’ problems to the negative patterns between them, instead of the couples themselves (or the partners). Finally, the change process has been mapped into a clearly defined process consisting of nine steps and three change events that help guide the therapist and track progress. If you are looking for help with a distressed relationship, an EFT trained therapist would be a wise choice.
EFT has many strengths as a therapeutic model. First, it is supported by extensive research. Second, it is collaborative and respectful of clients. It shifts blame for the couples’ problems to the negative patterns between them, instead of the couples themselves (or the partners). Finally, the change process has been mapped into a clearly defined process consisting of nine steps and three change events that help guide the therapist and track progress. If you are looking for help with a distressed relationship, an EFT trained therapist would be a wise choice.