Te Whare Mahana farewells John Gawith
Former clinical director and advisor at Te Whare Mahana, John Gawith. Photo: Em Hofstede.
Te Whare Mahana recently bade farewell to John Gawith, its clinical director and advisor for 12 years.
John arrived at Te Whare from the Coromandel in 2000. At that time, psychologists in New Zealand were just being introduced to the clinical model of Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT), developed by Marsha Lineham at the University of Washington for treating people with borderline personality disorder.
“DBT teaches a lot of skills. People become empowered,” John says.
John introduced DBT to Te Whare Mahana in 2000, making the residential programme there a pioneer in this new form of treatment. He was attracted to the model, seeing it as effective and powerful. “Prior to DBT, clinicians had less success helping people with severe emotional problems.”
During his time as clinical director, John has seen Te Whare Mahana create a unifying programme by bringing in experienced teachers from the USA to help staff learn the techniques, and says the key staff now have lots of training in DBT.
“Clients turn their life around. It’s powerful to watch and see people come from a suicidal place to holding down a career and leave the mental health system altogether. It’s a real recovery model. We see it.”
John, who hails from Timaru, wasn’t always a clinical psychologist. He graduated with a degree in theology, a diploma in education and joined the priesthood for four years. In Christchurch, he taught economics and religious studies at St Bede’s, a boarding school for boys until 1989, when he left the priesthood.
After that, he studied psychology, married and moved to the Coromandel, where he worked for the Waikato Health Board.
His theology background gave him a broader perspective in his work, he said. “Sometimes there’s a tendency to look at a specific problem rather than looking at the whole person, and I think a spiritual background helps to look at the whole person.”
In addition to his directorial responsibilities at Te Whare Mahana, John is the local CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) team member. As such, he works with children in need and with certain disorders, their families and their support workers, such as school counsellors, the RTLB, and the community workers. He will continue in this role and hopes to expand his work to Motueka as well.
After 12 intense years at Te Whare assisting others, it’s time for a rest for John. Now 53, he has some health issues that have arisen in part due to the stress of his job. He has had three heart attacks and a triple bypass during his time as director, and now the father of four wants to reassess where his career is going.
He will be sorely missed at Te Whare.
Te Whare’s manager Jo Johnson has worked with John since 2000.
“John brought with him his clinical expertise, his compassion and commitment to the people who use our services and his vision and ability to think outside the square, and he made an enormous contribution to the development of Te Whare, particularly the specialist residential psychotherapy programme. He has worked locally, nationally and internationally to bring Dialectical Behaviour Therapy into mental health treatment in New Zealand, which has raised the profile of Te Whare Mahana and helped to make it the special place of healing and recovery that it is.
“John’s leaving party was an opportunity for staff and board members (past and present) and others to acknowledge his contribution to the community.”
John is so well respected that Manawhenua ki Mohua presented him with the gift of a sperm whale tooth.
“We all wish him all the very best for the future,” says Jo.
John’s future, apart from clinical psychology, will undoubtedly include more family time and more time to follow his other pursuits, coaching kids’ soccer and junior golf.
Em Hofstede
