I met David Gust in 1980, when I became Director of the addiction program at Total Health Medical Center Oakland, which now operates as Thunder Road, a program for adolescents. As I surveyed the many needs of the program at that time, the brightest spot in the facility was the youngest staff member, David, who was already a seasoned and highly proficient counselor. I relied heavily on David’s expertise and his total commitment to his work in upgrading the program to new standards. He was always a joy as a colleague, then and ever since.
I moved on to another position in 1981 and while we never worked directly with each other after that, we stayed in touch professionally and have enjoyed a long and trusting relationship of referral to each other’s programs. It has been my delight to follow his outstanding career, read his books and to know that if I referred a client to David or to his organization, they would receive the finest attention. When he referred a client to Mountain Vista Farm, where I retired as Executive Director in 2017, he followed his client’s progress carefully.
In 2011, I was a presenter at the annual conference of the organization that is now the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals in Sacramento. At the awards dinner, I was surprised and delighted to watch David receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for his innovative work with adolescent treatment and creative treatment models. I was apparently not the only pleased person there—his standing ovation continued for a long time. I was happy to see that our field recognized that his contributions had given new direction to our approach to adolescents and young adults. I am aware that his work has been with adults for some years now, a number of whom were his adolescent clients in years past.
David was always clinically superb, but in addition to his great helper heart, he has the mind and creative force of an effective entrepreneur-founding and directing successful clinical groups that have operated with the highest integrity and commitment. He has been careful in his choice of practitioners in his groups and always held them to meticulous standards. David’s consultation will be a boon to any organization that engages him. I recommend him with highest confidence.
