Gary Lee Maddux Jr. is a counselor and educator whose clinical and training work is informed by both extensive professional experience and personal loss. After a long career in Marine Corps aviation as both a pilot and instructor, he entered the counseling field following the death of his daughter to suicide. This experience reshaped his professional trajectory and now informs a focused commitment to suicide prevention, postvention, and trauma-informed care. He became a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in 2023 and works primarily with veterans, first responders, and families navigating complex grief and suicide-related loss.

Gary’s training presence reflects a combination of instructional discipline and clinical sensitivity. As a certified QPR instructor, he provides suicide prevention and resilience training for both mental health professionals and community audiences. His background in high-stakes training environments contributes to a structured, clearly organized teaching approach, while his clinical work ensures that content remains grounded in relational awareness and emotional attunement. He is particularly attentive to the weight of the material, pacing content in a way that supports both learning and participant stability.

His trainings are designed to increase clinician confidence in addressing suicide directly, with an emphasis on practical application, ethical responsibility, and the reduction of stigma. He approaches training as a collaborative learning process, encouraging thoughtful engagement while maintaining a steady and composed presence. His work is designed to be both clinically substantive and personally meaningful, particularly in areas where professional competence and lived experience intersect.