About our authors
Samuel T. Gladding is a professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has been a practicing counselor in public and private agencies since the 1970s. His leadership in the field of counseling includes service as the following:
- President of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC).
- President of the Alabama Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
- Approved supervisor, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
- President of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and chair of the ACA Foundation.
- President of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES).
- President of the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW).
- President of Chi Sigma Iota (international academic and professional counseling honor society).
- President of the American Association of State Counseling Boards (AASCB).
Dr. Gladding is the former editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and the ASGW newsletter. He is also the author of more than 100 professional publications. In 1999, he was cited as being in the top 1% of contributors to the Journal of Counseling and Development for the 15-year period from 1978 to 1993. Some of his most recent books include The Counseling Dictionary, 4th edition (2017); Counseling: A Comprehensive Profession, 8th edition (2018); Group Work: A Counseling Specialty, 7th edition (2016) and The Creative Arts in Counseling, 5th edition (2016).
Dr. Gladding's previous academic appointments have been at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Fairfield University (Connecticut), and Rockingham Community College (Wentworth, North Carolina). He was also director of Children's Services at the Rockingham County (North Carolina) Mental Health Center. He received his degrees from Wake Forest (B.A., M.A. Ed.), Yale (M.A.R.), and the University of North Carolina–Greensboro (Ph.D.). He is a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor and a Licensed Professional Counselor (North Carolina). He was a member of the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors from 2008 to 2014 and has twice been a Fulbright Specialist: Turkey (2010) and China (2013).
Dr. Gladding is the recipient of numerous honors, including the David K. Brooks Distinguished Mentor Award, American Counseling Association; the Arthur A. Hitchcock Distinguished Professional Service Award, American Counseling Association; the Research in Family Counseling Award, International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors; the Gilbert and Kathleen Wrenn Award for a Humanitarian and Caring Person, American Counseling Association; the Bridgebuilder Award, American Counseling Association Foundation; the Humanitarian Award, Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling; the Lifetime Achievement Award, Association for Creativity in Counseling; the Joseph W. and Lucille U. Hollis Outstanding Publication Award Association for Humanistic Counseling; the Professional Leadership Award, Association for Counselor Education and Supervision and the Eminent Career Award, Association for Specialists in Group Work. He is also a Fellow in the American Counseling Association and the Association for Specialists in Group Work.
Dr. Gladding is married to the former Claire Tillson and is the father of 3 children: Ben, Nate and Tim. Outside of counseling, he enjoys swimming, walking and humor.
