STAFF SPOTLIGHT (continued)

One year later, Greg began a serious and lasting love affair with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). “People enter treatment with the idea that they need to be ‘fixed’. DBT takes the approach that there’s nothing wrong with them. Their brains are fine; we just need to figure out a better way for them to interact with thoughts, emotions and urges.”

The beauty of DBT is that it is an ever-evolving therapeutic strategy. However, the core of acceptance and change, the dialectic of two opposing things existing at the same time, remains constant.

Like any therapeutic approach, DBT does not work in every situation. “DBT takes a level of commitment and willingness. It necessitates a degree of vulnerability. Prior to coming to TK, most of our residents have embraced behaviors specifically designed to avoid this.”

Because Greg facilitates groups campus-wide, he experiences how different age ranges “buy in” to DBT. “Often young residents embrace DBT because it is like being in school. Being a curriculum-based therapy, they learn new skills and how to apply them. Learning is familiar to them.” Adult residents can be quite different. “Most have reached a point where nothing else has worked. Many tell me they have done a lot of research and believe that DBT is the only thing that can help them.”

In 2014, Greg received his Master’s degree in clinical psychology from Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill.

Every wise therapist knows that self-care and emotional and physical restoration is imperative. Greg’s recharge is inextricably linked with nature. Summertime, you can find him kayaking, fishing and camping on obscure islands in the middle of the Mississippi River. Wintertime, the same group of friends hike for miles to camp in desolate caves in the Shawnee National Forest. His excursions are the epitome of primitive survival skills—transforming stream water into drinking water, chopping wood, boiling snow to add to dehydrated food. Greg is also a road-trip enthusiast.

At home, Greg loves tackling new recipes. He is accomplished in everything from Mexican food to barbecue. Recently, our residents taught him how to crochet!

There is only one thing extremely disturbing about Greg Holich: there is only one of him. We wish we had a dozen of him to work with our women and girls. The importance of a positive male role model cannot be overstated.

Clearly, Greg is a safe man in a treatment setting; even more, he is an extremely good man across-the- board.