Spotlight
Spotlight: Rich Gallagher, LMFT
posted at 2025-03-11 15:09:00
Hi! I'm Rich Gallagher, and I am a cognitive-behavioral therapist in Ithaca who specializes in treating OCD and anxiety disorders along with general family therapy. Here are some fun facts about me:
I first became a therapist in my 50s, and still practice half-time and remain professionally active in my 70s.
This is my third career. I was in the software industry through the 1990s, eventually managing call center operations, then an author and public speaker into the 2010s. For a few years in the early 2000s I was briefly one of the nation's bestselling customer service authors, and am still a prolific writer.
I have lived experience with OCD and anxiety disorders, which fueled my clinical work and interests in treating these disorders as a therapist.
While my clinical practice has slowed to half-time nowadays, I am not dead yet. A new treatment protocol I published for contamination OCD in 2023 became a popular session at the IOCDF's national online conference, and led to my latest book The Contamination OCD Workbook as well as a children's book forthcoming this spring. Prior to that, I authored four self-help books on social and general anxiety for an imprint of Penguin Putnam. You can learn more about my clinical work and publications at www.anxietycamp.com.
Personally, I've been married to Colleen for nearly 50 years, have lived all over the US and emerged from a stint in Pittsburgh as a lifelong Pirates fan, enjoy traveling to the Southwest every winter and Europe every summer, and recently became a dual citizen of the Czech Republic and am learning the Czech language. But Ithaca is where I grew up, went to school and met my beautiful wife, and will always be home to me.
Q&A:
What drew you to the mental health field, and what keeps you passionate about it?
I have always been fascinated by human behavior, and even had a dual major at Cornell in engineering and psychology. More importantly, good therapy dramatically changed my own life, and I find great joy in helping people break free from anxiety disorders.
What advice would you give to someone considering therapy for the first time but feeling nervous or unsure?
We are like plumbers, and you are the customer. We are here to serve you. I personally try to go "full Burger King" with my clients, e.g. have it your way. Also understand that therapists vary widely, so don't be afraid to shop around to find someone who really clicks with YOU - no therapist, including me, is the right one for everyone.
What are some of your favorite resources (books, podcasts, etc.) for mental health and personal growth?
I love Dr. David Burns' books, podcasts and website (feelinggood.com) on treating anxiety and depression, Drs. John and Julie Gottman’s work on family therapy (gottman.com), and Jon Hershfield’s books on OCD. I also enjoy a number of OCD podcasts including The OCD Stories from the UK, The OCD Whisperer, The OCD Family Podcast, and FearCast (shameless plug, I've appeared on all of these).
What does a successful therapeutic outcome look like to you?
I am a cognitive-behavioral therapist, so we often measure outcomes using established metrics. But the most important metric is whether you are happy and functioning the way you want to function.
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