Prof. Michael J. Gargano is a native New Yorker, a first-generation student, born to Italian immigrants, a person in long-term recovery, and a cisgender male. Currently, Prof. Gargano serves as an Assistant Professor of Applied Psychology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at SUNY Alfred College of Technology. He holds degrees in philosophy, comparative religion, and mental health counseling. Honors include induction into Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society for Educators & Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.
Outside of teaching, Prof. Gargano maintains a virtual private practice, Hope & Recovery Counseling Services, where he provides clinical services grounded in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Schema Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral therapies to clients who wish to address concerns related to depression, anxiety, complex trauma, dissociation, behavioral and chemical addictions, and personality disorders. Prof. Gargano regularly provides case consultations and community presentations on mental health and addiction-related topics.
Prof. Gargano is an active member of Niagara Frontier Search and Rescue, Inc., a regional wilderness search and rescue team serving eight counties within Western New York and the NYSFEDSAR. He also holds an active certification as an Emergency Medical Technician – Basic (EMT-B). As a first-responder, clinician, and academic, he understands the unique needs and concerns first-responders have for access to quality mental health tools, services, and research. Prof. Gargano is passionate about being of service beyond the classroom or therapeutic hour. While in graduate school, he had the honor to serve on the inaugural board of directors for the American Counseling Association of New York as Upstate Region Chair (the first state chapter of the American Counseling Association).
Prof. Gargano understands the human condition from a broad array of academic, personal, and professional angles. His scholastic orientation to counseling and psychology is interdisciplinary and bridges the gap between theory and practice. His work and projects seek to help people find their voice, ease pain, and end suffering. Prof. Gargano’s work appears on the Institute of Creative Mindfulness (ICM) Redefine Therapy blog and on YouTube. He also serves as a peer-reviewer for PLOS Mental Health & the Journal of Search & Rescue (JSAR).
Prof. Gargano believes every human being has essential goodness and uniqueness. The decisions we make sometimes lead us down roads we cannot always avoid. Choices and consequences are inescapable. Compassion, understanding, and empathy are the core lenses he relies upon to help people make healthy changes. Following his work in addiction recovery treatment centers, Prof. Gargano strongly believes in second chances, provided the person is willing to do the work required for transformation.
The rewarding part of being a clinician and educator is collaborating and empowering both clients and students to break down walls of fear, end cycles of self-defeating attitudes and behaviors, discover creative solutions, and lean into authenticity and self-acceptance.
When Prof. Gargano is not teaching or meeting with clients, he thoroughly enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking, playing the saxophone & piano, reading, and painting, to name a few of his hobbies.
