Gary Grossman Ph.D

Gary Grossman Ph.D Quick Facts

Main Areas: Personal Development
Career Focus: Personal Development Life Coach, Author, Speaker, Empowerment Coach
Affiliation: The Empowerment Team, ICF, Coachville

Early in my professional career, while working on the Lower Eastside of New York City, I was nicknamed, "the 90-day Wonder", by my heroin-addicted clients. They marveled at my skills, empathy, understanding, and trustworthiness. They wondered: How could I understand a world that they were experts about when all I had to show for it was long hair, a pleasant smile and a master's degree in psychology? What gave me the right to be an expert in their worlds?

 

I knew their distrust was well founded. Thankfully, even before I started to work with them, I knew that I had no right to project my beliefs onto individuals whom I knew little about. I looked at them as people with legitimate needs for help, if they allowed it. I laughed back, told them they were right, that I knew nothing about their truth "BuT" was willing to listen, if they were willing to tell me. I also told them that under the right circumstances, I might even be able to help them, if they trusted themselves and allowed me. They did, I did, and our relationships set the stage for my career since then.

 

I reaffirmed what I already knew, that:

 

My fundamental abilities to respect similarities in people

and to rise above our differences

guarantee me my greatest successes.

 

I loved those two first years of my early career. By helping others, I knew that I was onto something. I also knew that I needed to go back to school to complete my doctorate to truly do the work that I most wanted to do.

 

I moved to California, got my doctorate in clinical psychology and worked as a psychologist and clinical psychologist in both public and private practice. I spent over 20 years and over 50,000 hours, in the chair, listening to, empathizing with, and helping many people.

 

Unfortunately over the years, I foolishly took on the belief that I was responsible for fixing my patient's dysfunction rather than just helping them fix their own. I did a fabulous job of helping many patients get better. They got better; I burned out, thereby suffering the consequences of my own folly.

 

We all have successes and make mistakes; we are human.

 

"It is what we do with our successes and our failures that determines our character."

Dr. I WannaWannaTM

 

I had a choice to fight my mistakes and project responsibility elsewhere or to own them. I chose to accept my responsibility and to clean them up with integrity. I have and I am proud of it. Thankfully, I have learned much over the years. I trust, some of "It" will be of value to you.

 

All that said and done, I found my true passion as I transitioned from being a clinical psychologist into personal development life and business coaching.

 

Coaching affords me the ability to work with the "coachable". You know: "normal people" who have the ability to succeed, the willingness to develop a realistic plan and who are capable of developing the support necessary to succeed. Coaching allows me the luxury of referring the "diagnosably impaired" to qualified licensed mental health professionals for psychotherapy. Win/Win Wins.

 

 

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