WinGate Wilderness Therapy is excited to announce the newest additions to the Clinical Team, knowing that David Saldaña, MSW, CSW, and Ed Simons, LCSQ, BCD, will be an incredible resource to the students and families entrusted with their care.

David Saldaña, MSW, CSW, has been working in the field of therapy and mental health for 22 years, working in both wilderness and residential boarding school programs throughout the American West and Canada.  Through his experience, he has held many positions that have added to his repertoire of therapeutic experiences, such as field staff, senior field staff, residential director, program director and now a therapist. One highlight of David’s career was creating a year-long outdoor program for adolescent youth in southern British Columbia that operated for 4 years, bringing children from Vancouver, and all along the Okanagan valley into the outdoors to teach team building, leadership, and healing activities. Dave also managed and directed staff, teaching them essential wilderness skills, and providing guidance and instruction on guiding the youth in this dynamic program. Through his experiences and training, David specializes in working with a wide range of clients including LGBTQIA, adolescents and adults impacted by trauma, attachment disorders, personality disorders, depression, low self-image issues, anxiety, gender identity struggles and substance-related disorders. David is passionate about the outdoors and brings a unique outdoor experiential component and perspective to his sessions.

David brings years of experience and knowledge to the WinGate Wilderness Programs. He is a strong believer in experiential therapy, which he actively applies in his sessions. David is originally from southern California where he surfed, skateboarded, and went to music concerts. He moved to Southern Utah in 1999 and went directly into wilderness therapy to start his career. David graduated from Boston University School of Social Work with his master’s degree in 2018 and is Dialectical Behavior Therapy Certified. When David isn’t working, he can be found hanging out with his wife, playing with any of his 5 children, leather crafting, wood or stone carving, walking in the desert, camping, hunting or fishing. 

Ed Simons, LCSQ, BCD, has spent the last 24 years helping individuals and families working with Utah’s Family Preservation Program and as a combat medic/therapist in the United States Air Force where he recently retired in December 2020. 

During Ed’s 24 years he has worked in multiple positions providing supervision to clinicians and therapy to individuals and families. Ed’s most recent experience includes serving in mental health clinics at seven military installations and three deployed combat locations around the world, helping many of our servicemen under very difficult and challenging situations in the nation’s defense.
 
Ed holds a master’s degree in social work with an emphasis in marriage and family from the University of Utah. His clinical specialties include CPT, PE, DBT, CBT, strengths-based approaches, and motivational interviewing. Ed also completed a one-year Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Fellowship (helping clients renegotiate trauma) in 2012 and is trained as a Master Clinician in three evidenced-based treatments for trauma. Additionally, he is trained in CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) and Nightmare Rescripting Therapy.  He has led and supervised clinicians and personally worked with substance abuse, co-occurring diagnoses, sleep disorders, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, anxiety, depression, trauma, and attachment. Ed is certified both regionally and nationally as a board-certified diplomat in Social Work (BCD).
 
Ed views his own ongoing quest for helping others through the healing process as an important part of his personal and professional goals. He is constantly seeking to improve his understanding of how to help individuals and families in that healing process.  Ed grew up in Louisiana, born into a military family, and has traveled the world during his military career to such places as Mississippi, Okinawa, the Middle East, California, Texas and New Jersey to name a few. During that time Ed has developed a love for nature and its healing benefits.  Ed enjoys hiking, exploring, traveling, sports, learning new things, staying active and spending time with his wife, Wendi, four children and two beautiful granddaughters Ana and Olive. 
 
Ed believes that we all have inevitable struggles in life and all have the capability to heal.  He believes in the power of the wilderness to help center us and bring us into the present and invite that healing into our lives. Ed can be reached at ed@wingatetherapy.com.

About WinGate Wilderness Therapy 

WinGate Wilderness Therapy is located in southern Utah, in the Grand Staircase National Monument. The program provides personalized treatment for teens, ages 13-17; and young adults, ages 18-28, through their young adult program Expanse Wilderness. WinGate passionately provides the best clinical service and highest quality of care in treating those who are struggling and need support. WinGate specializes in treating a range of issues, including (but not limited to): depression, anxiety, trauma, attachment, failure to launch, substance abuse, and mal-coping mechanisms. WinGate believes that establishing a respectful, and caring relationship with clients, allows for dynamic and lasting growth.

For more information or to schedule a Zoom call with a WinGate representative, contact Josh Gunalda, Admissions Director by phone at (828) 412-1385, or by email at help@wingatetherapy.com. We look forward to connecting with you!