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Headshot #1 Chad G_edited.jpg

chad gurdgiel

MSW, LSW
Psychotherapist

There is no singular or prescriptive approach to emotional wellness or recovery. However, together, we are able to define what works best for you. I believe that therapy is one of many powerful tools that can assist in bringing us back to a place of unconditional self-acceptance. Together, we can work through emotions, past traumas, and patterns of behavior that keep us feeling stuck. I look forward to supporting you find truth, clarity, and wellness. My work is rooted in compassion, social justice and understanding. I work to ensure that all sessions are a safe place to explore emotional truths and analyze self-narratives. 

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Throughout my career, I have worked with a diverse array of human experiences and am truly comfortable meeting everyone where they are. Among these areas of experience are drug use, addiction, anxiety, trauma, and depression. I am experienced in supporting LGBTQIA+ communities and always work to understand how our intersecting identities influence our mental health and general well-being.

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For the past four years, I have been supporting people who use drugs and people who live unsheltered. I am skilled in navigating traumatic situations while helping to strengthen personal autonomy, self-worth, and acceptance of factors outside our control. I believe in harm reduction, in its simplest form, as a way of promoting wellness and reducing danger within systems that put us at risk. Whether you’re using drugs and feel like aspects of your life have become unmanageable or chaotic, or if you feel like drug use is therapeutic and working to heal pain both past and present, you will be met with unconditional support and understanding. We can also explore the ways in which shame and stigma influence our actions, feelings, and beliefs.

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My experience working in crisis response has taught me how to be fully present in the moment while working with individuals, and how to guide others back to awareness of body and environment.

Education and Training

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MSW • Temple University

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BSW • Social Work • Temple University

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AA • Social/Behavioral Science • Community College of Philadelphia

Areas of Specialization

 

Substance use and addiction, anxiety, depression, grief, stress management, HIV/AIDS, trauma and PTSD

Theoretical Orientation​

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  • Trauma-informed

  • Client-centered

  • Anti-racist

  • Strengths-based

  • Mindfulness

  • Harm reduction

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