Dr. Cameron Gordon is that rare blend of your favorite professor and your best therapist. Often, professors, even the most engaging ones, don’t pursue clinical work, preferring instead to work on their teaching, research, and writing. Dr. Gordon loves both and has built his stellar career around being an extraordinary teacher and educator while also being a wise and highly effective therapist.
Dr. Cameron has a strong reputation as a professor and in the scientific community. His students love him and there’s no mystery as to why. He is not only smart and an outstanding communicator, he’s also warm, funny, engaging, and down to earth. As a researcher, he is known for his work on mindfulness practices and building healthy relationships. He has served on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Family Psychology for over a decade and he’s a Past President of the Couples Research and Therapy Special Interest Group at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.
As a therapist, he brings that knowledge and expertise and integrates it with his engaging style to make him one of the most effective therapists we know. His client satisfaction ratings and comments are always off-the-chart and he’s a clinician that our referring professionals know will always bring his A game.
We asked him a few questions about how he got into this field and who he loves to see in therapy.
I’m always curious to know why people chose to go into this field. Why did you decide to be a therapist?
I have always had a deep respect for the strength that people demonstrate when they face challenges. I also know that hardship is a tremendous opportunity for growth, and I get excited to join people in the process of developing ways to succeed!
I know you are good at a wide range of issues, but what are your areas of specialty?
Doing therapy for over twenty years has taught me that people are often much stronger than they believe they are, so I like to work in ways that help them reclaim and strengthen their confidence and perseverance. I often use principles of Positive Psychology, Mindfulness Meditation, and Strengths-Based Treatment for disorders such as Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, OCD, Relationship Challenges, etc., to help clients utilize the hardships they face in a way that enables them to build a stronger, more enduring, and more peaceful path forward.
What clients do you see?
I love working with all types of adult clients ages 18 to 118 who are seeking ways to overcome hardship, or are simply looking to enrich the ways they work, live, and play so that they can get the most out of life!
I’m honestly hoping you get to see a bunch of 118-year-olds! We’ve built our practice around having fun and being playful. So much of mental health work is heavy, so we’ve tried to take the position that we take our work seriously but not ourselves. I know you have a great sense of humor and are extremely curious. Tell us some fun things about you.
Ha ha ha, yes, people sometimes look at the things I like to do for fun and wonder whether I am some kind of masochist! But really, I just relish the opportunity to embrace the full complexity of life. So, in addition to enjoying an evening on the couch watching a movie with my family, I also make time to experience things that entail a healthy dose of both beauty and hardship, just like life! Whether it is high altitude mountaineering, taking a cold plunge in the ocean in the wintertime, or simply parenting my children – I try to make the most of every opportunity to learn, grow, endure, challenge myself, and have fun along the way!
The good news is Dr. Gordon is accepting new referrals. He works via tele-health, which is often great for busy parents, professionals, and couples. If you’d like to schedule a time with him, you can call 615-373-9955 to get started. If you want to know a little bit more, he also offers free 15-minute meet-and-greets so you can get a sense of his style and find out if he might be a good fit for you. At Southeast Psych Nashville, we are thrilled Dr. Cameron is part of our clinical team. He is a great example of our commitment to clinical excellence.
