clinician

clinical supervisor

case manager

residential counselor

recovery specialist

Gandara Center

I was hired through a job fair for the Cornerstone location in Ware and initially had a positive experience with onboarding and orientation. The HR team was welcoming, and the training sessions were well-organized and interactive. Unfortunately, the situation changed drastically once I began working at the assigned house.

On my very first day, I was placed alone with ten female clients without proper training or introduction. As the only male staff member in that situation, it felt uncomfortable and poorly thought-out, especially considering the backgrounds and needs of the individuals in care. I was also asked to use my personal vehicle to transport clients — a standard practice at that site — which raised serious concerns for safety and boundaries, especially when supporting clients with trauma histories.

The house was consistently short-staffed, with frequent turnover and high stress levels among remaining employees. Many staff were required to work double shifts to fill gaps, which led to burnout and low morale. Leadership at the site did not provide adequate support or structure. Communication was minimal, and there was little visible effort to address the ongoing staffing crisis or support the well-being of clients and staff.

That said, I want to acknowledge that HR made an effort to retain me by transferring me to another location, where the experience was much more positive. There, I received appropriate training from a knowledgeable program manager, and the team was supportive and professional. It showed me that the company as a whole has potential — but the Cornerstone site in Ware, in its current state, is not a safe or sustainable work environment.

Gandara Center is a nonprofit in a field where organizations fight for funding dollars. People should temper their expectations accordingly; Gandara will offer you a fair wage and benefits, but expect a bit of day-to-day craziness.

There's a growing movement internally to address concerns about company culture and to make working at Gandara more enticing. It's great that management is listening to the concerns and comments of staff. The tide is turning for the better on this. People are buying in, and the more that do the better things will be.

Day-to-day work can be a bit unstructured, which can be good or bad depending on your work style. Early on, you might feel like you're in a bit of a sink-or-swim situation; but as time goes on, you'll realize that this allows you to be proactive, to take the lead on projects, and to assert yourself as a creative and collaborative staffer. If you contribute to ideas and meet all your deadlines/milestones, you'll be just fine.

Executive management is in the midst of a revamp which could bode very well. A new breath of fresh air may take the organization in different directions, which will ultimately help it grow and modernize.

Overall, Gandara provides a service that is lacking at state organizations and other nonprofits. They offer community support and engagement opportunities to some of the most vulnerable populations in Massachusetts, such as LatinX and African-Americans. Gandara's mission is essential to ALL the communities affected by addiction, mental illness, and stigma.

This is a great place to cut your teeth on nonprofit operations in the substance use and mental health field.

My night shift was 10 hours long and usually started out slowly since youth were generally asleep at that  time. As the night progressed my team and I cleaned and checked on the youth. Mornings starting about 5:30 were very hectic with waking kids up, morning routines to complete, breakfast, medications and behavioral issues to deal with. At the time I left we were very understaffed and over worked with lots of overtime.  Some staff stepped up to the plate and some were very frustrating to work with as they called out and so those of us left had to make up their hours. Management at the time did not seem to be very responsive to staff concerns. I believe that things have changed for the better since then. 

This job taught me to start each day fresh and not bring my baggage to work. I found I could work with difficult people (not all of them clients) and not take it personally.  

The hardest part of the job was the uncertainty.  How long was my shift going to be? Would the shift run smoothly or would there be a violent episode that would require physical restraint. And of course the paperwork.

The best part of working there was the kids.  They have been through so much and yes some of them treat everyone around them like dirt but even then I got a glimmmer of how they could be.  I loved being there for them and giving them some stability which so many had never had.  The shining moments were when you could see that we had made a positive difference in their lives.

Set up health appointments, communicate with DCF teams, audit the med room, hold group once a week, admin meeting three times a week, staff meeting twice a month, on call duties (length of on call status and time between on call status depends on how many admin you have in your program). Meet with youth at least 1-2 times a week, provide transportation for youth as needed, step into ratio on the floor as needed. The hardest part of the job is working with management. The way the staff and myself were spoken to is belittling. I was misinformed every step of the way. I learned that if you don’t give up time for your health or family they don’t like you as much anymore; especially if you don’t have time off banked. They don’t offer an LOA only PFML so if you don’t have a PCP you’re SOL. Their employee Assistance Program is pretty much a joke. If you tell them you cannot work outside of your hours, they guilt trip you, asked you why you can’t, and call it “team work” or “being flexible”. The best part about the job was getting to know and working with the youth. I made it a point to check on them most days before leaving for the day and sometimes I’d even stay to eat dinner with them. 

The workplace culture at the unit I was assigned to was pretty toxic. It just had overall negative energy where most staff were complaining most of the time.  The unit had a very hard time retaining staff for a variety of reasons but the main ones being the pay and the constant mandating. 

Everyone was late all the time on my unit and there were zero consequences for being tardy.

 But the worst part is, there was an embarrassing lack of funding for the unit I worked for. i Of course I’m being hyperbolic here when I say ‘no funding’.  Very little funding for groceries.  Very little funding for hygiene products or art and crafts for the kids. Adequate funding for out of house activities I guess. 

But more importantly…. It is not worth the consequences of getting a 51A. The job can often be incredibly stressful and even the potential 51A for messing up is  just not worth the job. It’s just not. I do not recommend working here. They do not value their staff enough for what they asked us to do and the lack of funding for the unit was kinda tragic. . And of course the potential 51A consequences are just not worth it at all. 

Gandara is one of the best women's treatment facilities in the state due to the fact that our Program Director has made so many positive changes such as making sure we are all trauma informed, attend as many trainings as we can and getting us involved with the interview process at the women's correctional facility. My co-workers are very helpful with one another and we enjoy what we do and it shows when the residents are so grateful to have had the opportunity to come here.
At times the job can become stressful. This is where supervision comes in, or actually our PD has an open door policy which is wonderful.
The greatest part of working here is the changes I see when someone actually "gets" it. I watch them when they first arrive to see them leave a completely different woman with a purpose, a life to look forward to, getting their children back, and beginning their new journey as sober women.

Like many mental health non-profit agencies, Gandara is in no way perfect. With that said, they do invest and appreciate every employee. They offer good training, learning opportunities, and lots of wellness initiatives. Over the last year they have made significant improvements that include: offering higher salaries for those who provide excellent quality of work and demonstrate a willingness to keep learning, offered paid training opportunities, and investing in their leadership team. If you align yourself with the right people, it is certainly possible to make this agency your permanent home. Many of their managers and supervisors have grown from within and have made very successful careers out of it. There is a good reason why this agency continues to grow across the state and most employees have been with the agency for multiple years. It truly depends on what you want to make out of it. I strongly recommend this agency, it truly is unlike no other.

A typical day at work is anything but typical.  I arrived to Gandara with several years experience working in behavioral health to experience inconsistency on a daily basis, other than consistent unprofessional leadership that did not take accountability for their errors that regularly, negatively impacted moral, and productivity, ultimately impacting employees ability to provide quality services. I will never recommend anyone to apply to work for Gandara, as I have both witnessed and first hand experienced what I describe as acts of intimidation and indirect threats. After addressing multiple concerns over several months, I eventually field “Reports of Concern” against colleagues as well as leadership regarding the hostile, toxic work environment leadership facilitated.  

During my tenure at the In-home Therapy department at CSA Holyoke, I acquired significant clinical experience. While the agency offered valuable opportunities, I observed several areas for improvement. The IHT administration demonstrated a lack of cultural sensitivity towards diverse populations, including minority and international employees.Additionally, employees could benefit from more comprehensive training to equip TT&S and Clinicians with the necessary skills for effective job performance. Excessive oversight from supervisors hindered employees' autonomy and dismissed clinical judgment. Despite this challenges, I was able to develop essential skills, including crisis management and adaptability in therapeutic approaches. Through working with diverse clients, I enhanced my cultural competence and expanded my professional network by building relationships with community resources.

Gandara Center is really big and many departments don't experience the same issues. The CSA is ridiculously lacking effective management. Gandara pays way less than other similar agencies in the area. You are overworked and unsupervised. Clinical Supervisors do not understand the work you are providing and push you to keep cases open to continue to charge insurances. You have to complain frequently to be heard and for them to listen and push changes. Some employees are really nice, some supervisors are undeniably understanding. Many many positions are given to people that have no education or knowledge in the area of expertise. This is a fair place start working if you are an intern or you are trying to gain experience in the mental health area. If you are a LMHC Supervisor that hates working and providing great clinical supervision this is your place too. The Clinic and the STARR Programs are way different.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Clinician 84 salaries reported	$62,887 per year
Clinical supervisor 53 salaries reported	$78,912 per year
Case manager 25 salaries reported	$23.56 per hour
Residential counselor 35 salaries reported	$19.82 per hour
Recovery specialist 23 salaries reported	$19.41 per hour

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