I couldn't have imagined what the first year in business would hold as I opened Great Lakes Therapy Center last summer. A pandemic where woking meant seeing clients via telehealth, wearing masks in public, and not hugging those close to me was certainly not on my radar. All of us here at GLTC are eternally thankful for our clients as the way we’ve worked together has shifted, and the support and advice from our community of fellow clinicians across the country.

In an effort to accumulate positive experiences, the team would like to share some of our thoughts and experiences from this past year with you. Here’s to year two!

How did Great Lakes Therapy Center come to be?

Victoria Kessinger: The “how” felt like a lot of luck honestly! I was able to begin interning at a private practice when I was still a graduate student at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology thanks to one of my professors and continued to work thereafter I got my Master’s in Clinical Counseling Psychology. From early on in my post-graduate work, Borderline Personality Disorder, Addictions, and Trauma had been my main areas of focus. Because I was in private practice, as opposed to a community center or a hospital system, I had the opportunity to really take charge of my postgraduate training. This led to me discovering The Linehan Institute/Behavioral Tech in Seattle, WA. This was an especially exciting opportunity because it is the training institute of Marsha Linehan, the inventor of DBT. I entered their 2-year intensive training in comprehensive DBT and was able to train directly with professionals who worked in Marsha’s lab at the University of Washington, Seattle. 

While completing the intensive training, I continued to work as a staff member at two different private practices with truly amazing clinicians. However, I realized no practices in the City of Chicago were specializing in only comprehensive DBT, the #1 recommended treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder and taking insurance. I strongly believe this life-changing treatment should be accessible to people and only offering out of pocket options limits who can utilize it. Opening Great Lakes Therapy Center was an opportunity to serve my community and provide services that had previously been inaccessible at a realistic price point by enabling them to use their healthcare benefits. 

Lastly, and this reason is very near to my heart, many who seek treatment for BPD encounter a visceral stigma that is sadly still present within the treatment community. I saw a dire need for not only access to affordable DBT treatment for BPD but also an opportunity to be proud to serve our BPD clients and to work to remove the stigma attached to this diagnosis. At GLTC we love to celebrate and embrace our client’s unique characteristics and empower them to practice self-love. We do this by treating them as human beings as opposed to limiting them to their diagnosis. 

Essentially, DBT is amazing, I want it to be accessible to people regardless of their social class and I want them to receive in a place that is respectful and empowering. Over the past year, we have made some solid steps and have a lot more work to do. My life goal is to figure out how people can receive DBT regardless of insurance coverage.

How has the practice grown over the last year? 

Victoria: Last August the team consisted of me and MC. Now there are 3 additional full-time therapists, a graduate school intern, a marketing consultant, and a billing coordinator.  Over the past year, we naturally became more and more specialized. We now advertise ourselves as solely a “Comprehensive DBT Practice” instead of a private practice specializing in evidence-based treatments. Through experience, it became apparent that we needed to be super-specialized in order to provide the best DBT possible. Narrowing our focus allowed us to build mastery of DBT and keep up with the rapid growth of the practice. 

Clinical services have almost tripled, expanding from 3 skills groups to 8. The new groups include traditional DBT skills groups and also a DBT group specifically for Substance Abuse Disorders and a DBT Graduate Group. We focused more time and effort into working with teens and are proud that our teen DBT program is now up and running.

 Each member of the team continues to narrow their expertise, and as we will do for the rest of our professional lives, we all learn and train on a continuous basis. Our team structure recently changed with the addition of Lauren Barris, LCSW-C, who now serves as Clinical Director. This shift in structure has allowed us more time and attention to develop our skills as DBT providers. 

The BLM movement had a significant impact on us as a team. Prompting us to pause and take a look at our privilege, examine blind spots, and commit to increasing access to care for BIPOC. We set a rule as a practice that every group has at least one sliding scale or pro bono spot and every clinician’s caseload has a certain percentage of sliding scale or pro bono clients. We hope this increases our ability to treat more diverse clients. We’ve prioritized funding for everyone in the practice to receive training in adapting treatment to BIPOC and recognizing how our identities as white people influence us as therapists. Lastly, we have been donating to organizations that cover the cost of mental health services for people of color including The Loveland Foundation. Check them out!! 

 

How do you decide who will be a good fit as you look for more people to join the practice?

 The most important thing is a personality fit. MC was the first employee I hired and she is just an incredible person. Her sense of humor and wit make the job very fun. We worked together for about a year and a half just the two of us and naturally figured out how to support each other and make each other laugh when the days were tough. 

With every new team member that joins, I look for someone who is not only smart and hardworking but also playful and incredibly compassionate. As DBT therapists, we witness pain, trauma, and acute distress on a regular basis. In order to be effective, we need to be able to balance the tough stuff out with joy, laughter, and love. At GLTC we’ve been able to do that because of how we support each other and laugh together. 

 One of my commitments as a therapist is to never suggest a strategy to a client that I haven’t already tried before. I feel inauthentic otherwise. So I look for clinicians who are not only doing DBT with their clients but using the principles and skills in their own personal lives. 

Lastly, they must be patient. I am very chatty and always seem to remember my most important thought right as a meeting or phone call is ending. I probably say “just one more thing” 10x a week. I’m lucky my GLTC teammates are willing to put up with me. 

 

Tell us about Arthur, GLTC’s resident therapy dog!

He is almost two years old and a Whoodle (Wheaton terrier and poodle mix). His biological mom is actually a therapy dog herself, she works at a private practice on the west coast. It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 

Any traditions or habits among the team? 

Mary Catherine Chase: Vic saying "Just one more thing" haha''

Amanda Scheblein: Sending cute pictures of our pets with our check-in emails.

Lauren Barris: I am new to the practice, but so far, I have really been enjoying the collective appreciation this team has for pet involvement! Whether it is a cat joining in for team consultation, or email chains comprised solely of puppy pictures.

Ryan Momberger: My favorite thing about Great Lakes Therapy Center is how supportive everyone is during difficult times, I also really enjoy seeing pictures and hearing stories of everyone's pets!

Victoria: Sharing victories at the end of our weekly consultation...sharing when one of our clients has reached a goal or completed a tough task. These moments are why we do what we do and it’s great to see our clients succeed.

What does everyone do for fun either outside of the office or to cope on busy days?

Amanda: To cope with busy days I enjoy taking a mindful walk outside to get fresh air and step away from the situation

Patrick Sterk: On the nicer weather days I like to get outside and walk my neighborhood. For when I'd rather stay in, I'm taking this summer as an opportunity to finally watch all of Law & Order: SVU from the very beginning; season 1, episode 1! I've made it to season 14 so far…

Ryan: Lately when I've had a hectic day I go for a bike ride along the lake. There are several small concession stands, cafes, or juice bars along the lake that I'll stop by for refreshments before heading back home! 

How has it been shifting the practice during the pandemic, esp as such a new practice?

It was a transition that felt scary at first but we’ve been able to make the most of it. Luckily, our clients are resilient and were nonjudgmental in response to our clumsiness. 

As a new practice, we are constantly trying to establish our reputation as DBT experts. But more importantly, We are committed to providing the best treatment we can. There isn’t a lot of research about doing comprehensive DBT virtually so a lot of what we are doing is uncharted territory. We are really looking forward to the treatment developments that come out of this time. 

Lemons into lemonade...our virtual meetings have allowed us to get to know each other's pets in a way we could never do before. Amanda’s cat Pancakes is a regular attendant at our weekly consultation meeting. We are all so impatient to have all the puppies in the office post-Covid.

What is a happy thing each of you reaches for lately if you’re having a hard day? 

Lauren: My fluffy, four-month-old puppy Cusco! It's a great stress-reliever to spend a few moments with him being completely one-mindful. 

Amanda: A happy thing that I reach for during hard days is my cat Pancakes and a good book

Victoria: I’ve recently become a fan of the TikTok star Zachariah. His content is very fun and empowering. 

Patrick: Rocky, my very talkative and friendly black cat, is always a great source of comfort and companionship. He's certainly loved having me around much more often.

Ryan: During COVID-19 many of my preferred ways to unwind have been limited so I've been trying to hike as often as possible as well and I've started training for a triathlon for next summer

Mary Catherine: When having a hard day, I reach out to looking at all my new plants and tending to their needs 

Plans for year two: 

Continue to fine-tune our telehealth services by trial and error and hope our clients continue to practice nonjudgmental stance while we master screen sharing and online whiteboards in our skills groups.

Expand our (virtual for the foreseeable future) DBT-SUDS program by collaborating with other leaders in addiction treatment within Chicago. 

Lauren will be starting a multi-family group within our teen program. Starting a second DBT Graduate Group as more of our clients graduate from our skills groups and become ready to transition into a less structured approach. 

Vic hopes to convince Arthur he doesn’t have to bark quite so much so that when we can return to the office he can attend therapy sessions again. Lauren hopes her puppy Cuzco grows into an empathetic and snuggly therapy dog as well. 

Lastly, what we hope for more than anything is that our clients reach their goals and that we help them along the way.