Gordon L. Day, Ph.D. - Creator and Director of the Vantage Point by Aspiro program
Dr. Day joined the Aspiro team in April of 2008. His vision and passion has been to create a program that makes the rich assessment and treatment opportunities available in the outdoors available to students struggling with more significant learning and emotional issues, including those on the pervasive developmental disorders spectrum. Dr. Day is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Utah and has a wide range of experience. He has specialized in working with adolescents and parents. Dr. Day has extensive experience in outdoor programs and in conducting psychological-educational evaluations. He loves the outdoors and enjoys a warm rapport with teenagers and families that quickly puts them at ease.
Over the years, Dr. Day has grown to deeply appreciate the healing and changing power of the outdoors.
The outdoor therapy experience provides rich assessment and treatment opportunities that are not available in traditional settings.
Dr. Day enjoys the challenge of figuring out what makes a teenager “tick” and what family patterns can be adjusted to help bring about healthy development of emotional health, self esteem, positive coping skills, academic success and improved family relationships. Though family relationships and patterns are an important part of the picture, Dr. Day believes it is important to empower an adolescent with the knowledge that ultimately; success is in their hands… we are all responsible for our own life.
Dr. Day grew up on a family farm in rural eastern Idaho.
He enjoyed many outdoor activities; including kayaking, fishing and camping. He participated in wrestling throughout junior and senior high school. After high school, he spent several years in the Air Force and enjoyed his work as a physical therapy technician. He then went on to work in California as a Physical Therapist Assistant in geriatric, acute, residential and rehabilitation hospitals while pursuing his undergraduate education.
During his undergraduate training, Dr. Day conducted honors research on adolescents and children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. He also gained experience in school settings and in mentoring programs for youth and as direct care staff in a group home for adolescent males.
Dr. Day graduated with honors and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a Minor in Family Relations from California State University, Chico.
Dr. Day completed graduate studies in Clinical Psychology at Brigham Young University.
He had extensive clinical training in psychotherapy for and assessment of psychological difficulties.
His area of clinical emphasis was child, adolescent and family psychology.
His graduate school practical experience included internships in a variety of settings including the Utah State Prison; the Utah State Hospital working with adolescents and adults; private practice clinics working with adult clients and with adolescents and their families; residential facilities working with at risk youth and in public schools and private boarding schools where he conducted psychological and educational evaluations.
During graduate school, Dr. Day also worked in a variety of settings that provided experience in organizational behavior and industrial/organizational psychology.
He was a project manager for the software development division of a national accounts payable auditing firm. He received training and experience in product development and rapid development methodologies. It was in these settings that Dr. Day developed a love for project work and team leadership. During this period of time, he also taught organizational behavior classes as an adjunct faculty member at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
At the completion of his course of study for his Clinical Psychology Ph.D., Dr. Day completed an internship at Valley Mental Health, a large community mental health center with many sites in urban and rural Utah. Valley Mental Health services adults and children with severe and persistent mental health needs. At Valley Mental Health, Dr. Day worked with adults in outpatient drug and alcohol treatment and in other outpatient settings. He also worked with at risk adolescents in residential treatment. He also conducted neuropsychological screening evaluations at the University of Utah.
After completion of his internship and graduation from the Clinical Psychology program, Dr. Day worked with adolescents and their families in a therapeutic boarding school in Montana for his residency training. It was there that he got an introduction to the passion and healing that outdoor treatment can bring to the life of a teenager and his or her family. Dr. Day then spent several years as a primary field therapist in a wilderness therapy program in Utah before coming to Aspiro.
When not working with children professionally, Dr. Day enjoys spending time with his family. He and his wife recently welcomed a new baby girl into the family. They enjoy outdoor activities such as backpacking, camping and fishing. His favorite pastime is watching his own children grow and participate in activities like track, skiing, snowboarding, band, wrestling, soccer and baseball. He has recently enjoyed flying remote control airplanes with his children.
