07/30/2025
🌟 Making an Impact Spotlight: Dr. Lyndon Aguiar
𝘈 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳 & 𝘝𝘊𝘗𝘎 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘓𝘺𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘈𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸.
“While I have never struggled with gambling, my late uncle who was my Godfather had a penchant for betting on the horses. When I visited him in London when I was a kid, he would stop by the off-track betting (OTB) offices to place his bets on horses or collect his winnings. I recall my uncle telling me not to say anything to my aunt about his betting. As a kid, I thought my "Padrine" (Godfather) was the most fun-loving, generous, charismatic, and caring uncle a kid could ask for. I wondered why he needed to keep secrets. I later learned that my aunt had to take control of their finances to preserve their marriage and their future.
While I developed a good understanding of addiction through my clinical experiences at NYU, internship at the University of Miami, and eight years working in student counseling at VCU, I did not truly understand gambling addiction until I began providing therapy at Williamsville Wellness in 2014, a residential treatment center that specializes in treating gambling disorder. I worked with a very talented clinical team at Williamsville and the leadership supported my professional growth by facilitating my international certification in gambling counseling (ICGC).
In my over 10 years working at Williamsville Wellness, I worked with close to 1,000 individuals struggling with gambling disorder. What inspired me the most was seeing individuals succeeding in their recovery following completion of their intensive residential treatment. I estimate that over 60% of the individuals we treated for gambling disorder stayed on track with their recovery for at least a year. Compare this with most addiction treatment centers with 10-20% success rates.
𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. These individuals would have credentials such as ICGC or similar. A good treatment center would provide individual therapy several times per week, couples/family therapy, groups that focus on gambling disorder, and they would address financial accountability, healthy outlets and wellness and aftercare support.”
Thank you, Lyndon, for the difference and impact you make every day!
