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Terry Sallis, the owner of Integrated Treatment Services, continues to pay it forward in life
6 minutes ago
5 min read
While chatting with Volume 82, Terris (Terry) Sallis shared several surprising details about his journey, especially the moments that transformed his life decades ago, after he left behind lawlessness and incarceration.
Through discipline and determination, Terry returned to school, earning three degrees, including a master’s degree, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Alongside his late wife, Karen, he built a successful agency, Integrated Treatment Services, that focuses on substance abuse, mental health, and behavioral health services in Iowa.
Through his agency, Terry continues to provide outreach and support to incarcerated individuals, coaching them to understand that there can be "life" and prosperity after prison. Sallis has held an adjunct professorship at the University of Iowa; he's served on numerous boards, has lectured professionally, and gave a presentation on substance abuse at Iowa's Governor's Ball.
Now in his '70s, he's restored many important relationships, especially with his children, and his desire to "pay it forward" and be his "best self" is why he keeps going and continues to help others.
Volume 82: Your agency, Integrated Treatment Services, was just voted Iowa's number-one agency.
Terry Sallis: Yeah, and I was voted the mental health champion by my peers. (I got the Mental Health Champion Award for the state of Iowa).
Volume 82: That's awesome.
Terry Sallis: It is awesome!
Volume 82: You seem to have an approach that helps your clients focus on reality.
Terry Sallis: I tell the truth! And my approach is eclectic, which means that I don't adhere to one approach to mental health therapy. I take a little bit from here. I take a little bit from there!
Volume 82: Tell me more about your agency.
Terry Sallis: My agency is called Integrated Treatment Services. (Integrated because we integrate a lot of different approaches to therapy). It's not one-size-fits-all.
Volume 82: Okay.
Terry Sallis: We deal with clients from where they're at. Our goal is to help them become their best selves. And you can't do that with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Volume 82: Sure.
Terry Sallis: My son, Terris Sallis, handles the substance abuse part of my agency. He's the Substance Abuse Director. My Mental Health Director is Kimberly Zantingh. We have the highest retention rate in the state for mental health and substance abuse.
Volume 82: That's amazing! Do you have residential space?
Terry Sallis: No. We don't do residential treatment.
Volume 82: How do you gauge how long people stay in the program?
Terry Sallis: It depends on the individual. They'll decide when they want to extricate themselves from the program. I engage with you for as long as you feel you need to. We might spend two hours a week together, three hours a week...There's no one way to approach therapy. It all depends on the individual.
Volume 82: Okay.
Terry Sallis: Like I said, my approach is one way—working toward helping you become your best you. And how we transition into that is an individual process. It really is. Every person has to take their own approach to getting healthy. But the good thing is that everybody can become healthy and be their best self. Everyone has the potential to do that!
Volume 82: Tell me about your journey and educational background.
Terry Sallis: I got out of prison in 2002. I got out of prison on August 5th, and on August 6th I was signing up for classes at DMACC. And I got my AA degree in 2004.
Volume 82: What did you get your degree in?
Terry Sallis: Human Services. After that, I went to Grandview University and earned my BA in Human Services. I graduated with a 4.00. After that, I went to the University of Iowa, and I got my master's. I graduated with a 4.00. I graduated Summa Cum Laude. I was the only Summa in the class.
Volume 82: That's amazing! And what is your master's in?
Terry Sallis: It was in social work.
Volume 82: And you got the agency up and running in what year?
Terry Sallis: 2007.
Volume 82: That's awesome. You've had a very colorful life. What brought you to the point of saying, hey, when I come home, I'm going to get my education, and then I'm going to do these things, you know, to pass something back to other people, to assist other people.
Terry Sallis: My Wife. Drove from Newton, Iowa, to Rockford, Illinois, and picked up my son, who was 8, and my daughter, who was 6, and brought them down to Fort Madison (prison) to visit me. I had my son sitting on my right knee and my daughter on my left. My son put both hands on my face and said, "Daddy, when you coming home to stay?" The look he gave me just morphed me into the man I have become!
Volume 82: Yes!
Terry Sallis: My son needed his dad; he wanted his dad. I said, "Son, when I come home, I'm going to stay." He started crying. He said, "Dad, I hope so. Thank you, Dad." It messed me up! It messed me up to a level that I don't understand today. (Terry also expressed how being incarcerated impacted his other children as well).
Volume 82: Yep, but it's all better now. You're doing a great thing. Do you have a separate mentorship program for youth?
Terry Sallis: I do; we have a program called BHIS (Behavior Health Intervention Services) for adolescents. My son runs that program, and it's incredible. My agency has been voted the best agency in the state for the last 10-15 years. If you come to Integrated Treatment Services, you'll get life, reality, and coaching. I have a 97% retention rate.
Volume 82: That's a very high retention rate!
Terry Sallis: It's unprecedented!
Volume 82: What's the age group for your youth program?
Terry Sallis: 18-24.
Volume 82: Do you help them develop job skills?
Terry Sallis: We do referrals.
Volume 82: Tell me about your annual carnival.
Terry Sallis: This will be the 13th year in a row. At the end of the Iowa State Fair, I have a carnival in (Newton, Iowa), because the state fair is cost-prohibitive for my community....We partner with a company called Montana Mike’s—Dave (at Montana Mike’s) is a great friend of mine, and he prepares all the food: burgers and chips. Everything is free at my carnival. We had over 2,000 people last year! We have free food, games, all the things you're gonna find at a carnival.
Volume 82: What's next for you?
Terry Sallis: Traveling! I want to take a cruise on the Nile and keep doing what I do in this business.
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