THERAPIST

Gregory Blake, M.ED., Resident In Counseling

After a 40+ year gap from the time I graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, I was accepted last year into the University of Pennsylvania’s Masters of Mental Health Counseling program. This new endeavor came after completing a 35-year career as an institutional bond specialist on the trading floor of a large national bank.

Why the drastic change in direction you might ask? It started soon after my wife of 39 years passed away from pancreatic cancer in late 2018. Even though this was a horribly difficult time for her and our family, along the way, I gained a tremendous amount of experience, numerous cancer specialist contacts, and incisive knowledge throughout her protracted and courageous fight.

I eventually decided to put my extensive cancer “intellect” to good use based upon my long-term motivational belief that “out of bad comes good.” It was soon after that when I decided to get the designation I would need—a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)—to be able to do therapeutically on a professional basis what I had and have been doing as an amateur: counseling, guiding, and advocating for those with cancer and their caregivers as they navigate their way through their own journeys.

I am currently an Intern with Cancer Hope Network, the nation’s oldest, and one of its largest peer-to-peer cancer support networks. I am also a Resident In Counseling, working towards my Licensure as a LPC here at Resilience Counseling. This experience has afforded me the chance to have even broader training so that I can eventually work with all mental health issues, and not just those that are cancer-related. In addition, for the past five years, I have been a co-facilitator of a dementia caregiver’s support group sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association of Richmond.