Gordon Shippey, MA, LPC

Do you know you're smart, but struggle when it comes to relationships, friendships, or your career? Did people call you a geek or a nerd? Were you treated like an oddball or an outcast growing up? Maybe you were diagnosed as neurodivergent such as ADHD or ASD. I specialize in helping people like you succeed in dating, work, and with friends.

If this sounds like you, I sympathize because it also sounds a lot like me growing up. But my story didn't end there. I immersed myself in the worlds of mental health, psychology, and self-improvement. It helped me immeasurably and I want that for you. In my counseling practice, I combine state-of-the-art therapeutic approaches including ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) with time-tested philosophies such as Stoicism to help you understand yourself and get traction on these areas of your life.

If you're thinking about how to improve your dating life, your social circle, or your work life, I'd love to be a part of that solution. Please reach out to me to schedule a free consultation.

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A few guiding principles define how I work with my clients:

• We often feel alone...and yes, we are often alone. Yet we can get good at being alone while still striving for more connection..
• As geeks, we are creators and builders. What we don't always notice is that we also construct the meaning of our social experiences.
• Socialization is a problem that can be solved and geeks are phenomenal at problem-solving.
• When we can't solve a problem with our usual methods, we're driven to find a new way and become stronger or smarter as a result.
• I will not B.S. you with positive thinking. Let's look at the situation with a cool, critical eye. Let's see things as they are: not better or worse.
• A solution that works and makes sense beats vague ideas that sound good..

Request Your Free Initial Consultation

From the Blog

Having Fun and Making Friends at the Same Time
​One of the stickiest problems I hear from my clients is the difficulty making friends as an adult. A 2018 study reported that one in three men did not have even one close friend. It's easy to drill down into reasons why friendships are scarce: work is all-consuming, people move around a lot, and social media keeps us glued to our phones. I'm not saying any of these are false, but I'd like to move the focus away from the obstacles and towards one important solution.​

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Don't "Study"
Scoring well on quizzes and exams is one of the biggest anxieties my college-age clients face. Students know they're supposed to study, but sometimes, even after putting their head in the books for hour after hour, grades remain low. The truth is that studying as we commonly understand it is a poor way to prepare for exams. 

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You Notice an Attractive Woman Across the Room; Here's What Happens Next:
Of all the social challenges we face as males, approaching available women has to be one of the most confusing. It's completely understandable that guys want to know the answer to "what do I say to her?"

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Do Smartphones Make us Dumb People?
Now that we depend on our smartphones to hold our address books, we no longer need to physically punch out phone numbers to call someone. Are we less able to remember anything now that our phones are remembering almost everything? 

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Phone-Life Balance: Using Mindfulness to Reconnect with Your Real Self and Your Real Life
In this guest post, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Amanda Bowers Carver pinpoints where many of us go wrong with our phones and shares some no-nonsense steps to get off the phone and back into life.

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Seven Smart Strategies for Less Stress and More Success
"In a world where the professional and personal demands of our lives often collide and compete, we long for more balance."

I had a chance to talk with Tricia Molloy, a speaker, mentor and author about the challenges of balancing work and life. Here's what she had to say.