Meet Garrett Wood | NBC-HWC, CCHt, Founder and CEO of Gnosis Therapy, and an Executive Functioning Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Garrett Wood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Garrett, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Before I opened Gnosis Therapy I was at a large Health and Wellness org with 7 direct reports, each with their own team of 5–20 people, across 7 locations. Our clientele could afford to go anywhere, but they came to us because we cared the most. Most of the clientele we were working with were weekend warrior types. They all led large divisions at their corporate jobs and spent their spare time investing in their health and wellness to keep their performance edge. But, even when their training and active recovery was on, and even their nutrition, they still struggled with their well-being. Most of the people I talked to were burning out from the chronic stress of performing well at work, coming at the cost of their personal relationships.

I knew how they were feeling. I was struggling with my own personal and professional relationships, my back pain was constantly flared up, and I was losing sleep over our production budgets while still meeting the physical and emotional needs of my team and their staff. I was struggling and felt embarrassed about how challenging all of this was for me. But I am not afraid of work or long hours. My sport of choice was marathons and CrossFit, so I was used to pushing past the wall. But I was beginning to question if this was really sustainable, and at what cost, and if it was really all worth it.

Around that time a colleague I looked up to was suddenly let go. They had been with the org for 20 of its 25 years and were always leading the production reports. I was in a meeting with their replacement two weeks later when we got the news that he had ended his own life. It’s tragic. It feels to me like he had given so much of himself to his position and the org that without it there wasn’t enough left to be worth saving.

I opened Gnosis Therapy a few months later. Most people are aware of burnout and have felt some of its effects personally, but the pervasiveness of burnout seems to make it feel inevitable, or a required rite of passage, or for some of us a badge of honor. But it doesn’t need to be the norm. Can success that is built on burnout really be called success? At Gnosis Therapy we believe that real, lasting success is built through your well-being, not at its expense.

What should our readers know about your business?
At Gnosis Therapy, we work with high-achieving, high-masking leaders, founders, executives, and entrepreneurs who want burnout recovery, sustainable leadership, and peak performance without sacrificing their health, wealth, or relationships. Over the last 18 years, I’ve seen the same thing happen again and again. High performers are told to “just manage stress better,” take more time off, or work on their mindset. That might give you a break in the short term, but it doesn’t fix the root problem. Within weeks or months, the same cycle of overwork, depletion, and burnout comes back. That’s why so many of our clients come to us looking for executive coaching for burnout that actually lasts.
What makes us different is our nervous system–first approach and the A³ Framework: Assess, Accommodate, Align. We start by mapping your capacity across sensory processing, bio-budgets, subconscious beliefs, executive functioning skills, attachment patterns, values, and emotional intelligence. This is how we get a complete picture of how you operate under pressure. From there, we build strategies that fit you, not the “average” leader. It’s a strengths-based process, so we’re building on what’s already working.

The interventions happen at multiple levels. We work at the subconscious level with clinical hypnotherapy to change stress-driven patterns. At the conscious level, we use solution-focused coaching, motivational interviewing, and appreciative inquiry to create leadership development and stress management strategies that fit you. Then there’s the somatic level — giving you tools to regulate your nervous system so you can shift your state, match performance to the task, and recover quickly. A lot of the clients we work with are not new to coaching, therapy, or health and wellness. They are looking for a practical and personalized approach that works with their schedule, no matter where they are that week or what is going on, so they feel confident in their ability to perform, recover, and lead at the highest level.

We also bring in sensory intelligence consulting, emotional coaching, and values-and-strengths-based planning — all part of resilience training for leaders who want a system that works with their physiology and psychology. Here’s a principle we live by: when systems are designed to fit the mean, they leave people out. When you design for the extremes, everyone is cared for and performance becomes sustainable.

Getting here wasn’t easy. The people we work with are experts at masking fatigue and pushing through. Reaching them meant developing a science-based approach that shows there’s a real alternative to the boom-and-bust cycle. Over time, we’ve refined the frameworks, tools, and assessments that make our programs effective for leadership performance under pressure.

The truth is, productivity tips and mindset work alone miss the mark for our clients. They already know how to work hard. What they need is a system that protects their body, mind, and relationships while they lead at a high level. At Gnosis Therapy, we meet you where you are, build on what’s already strong, and create momentum that keeps going.

Because success built through burnout isn’t really success. And we’re here to make sure you move beyond burnout, escape the boom and bust cycle and create real and lasting change, because success is built through your well-being, not at its expense.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was in town for a week, I’d make sure they got the full Long Beach experience — the kind that mixes movement, the water, and great food and coffee. We’d start with yoga on Bluff Park, looking out over the ocean, then join the “Moonlight Mash” full moon bike ride one evening — it’s a local tradition and a completely different way to see the city. One day we’d take the water taxi from Ballast Point to the Queen Mary, or skip the boat and paddle board through the canals of Naples. Either way, we’d make time for dinner at Nick’s on Second Street.
Coffee would be its own adventure. We’d kick off with a cup at Black Ring, then bike along the path that runs beside the LA River into downtown, stopping at Rose Park Roasters. From there, we’d follow the bike path toward Belmont Heights and grab a cold brew at Steelhead Coffee. Long Beach is at its best when you take it slow, get outside, and enjoy the mix of neighborhoods, people, and coastal views — it’s the perfect balance of energy and ease.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
One day, on my way out of my Philosophy of Ethics class, my professor and the department chair, Professor Heather Battaly, said to me, “You belong here.” I still remember exactly how I felt in that moment. For the first time, I felt like I truly belonged — not just that I was getting by or fitting in. It was an important and powerful experience. If not for her simple words, I may never have pursued philosophy or completed that degree. It’s hard to know what my life would have looked like without that moment, so thank you, Professor Battaly.

Website: https://www.gnosistherapy.com

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gnosistherapy/

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